Reading about the now sold out WoY toque being taken to places like Norway and in all likelihood even Afghanistan, I figured it might be nice to start a thread where we can post pictures of the band's merchandise being paraded around the world.
Despite my initial scepticism, I was lucky enough to get a hold of one of those toques. It arrived in the mail the very day I was leaving for Sierra Leone in Western Africa so I decided to move it straight from the envelope into my suitcase and... here's the result.
Even though I was not thinking of posting this picture here in the forum let alone move on to explain about what can be seen in it (apart from that git with the WoY toque of course, hehe), I was motivated to go ahead and do so by someone who obviously knows what he's talking about as well, so I have come to realize.
Incidentally, the kid next to me in the picture is working in a sand exploitation site, being the lake you can see behind us. Children as young as 4 years of age (personal estimate) were performing different tasks there. The teenage boys actually dived down holes that were drilled in the bottom of the lake bringing buckets of sand up to a small boat of which the contents were then brought ashore. Their only equipment being a boat and a shovel, I might add. No oxygen supply or anything remotely resembling that.
Unicef, the UN's organisation focusing on the wellbeing of children worldwide, is working hard to get in touch with local governments in order to improve the situation for these children and have them attend school rather than work in places like this all day long. Anyone having any experience with Africa and its local customs and politics will know this is a hard nut to crack.
We were lucky enough to be able to see the Unicef representative at work and I have to say a major kudos goes out to him and his staff. I've travelled to Africa quite often during the passed few years and have seen things I never thought imaginable. Things that put reality into perspective, to say the least. Trips like the one we just took stand for unique experiences. Alongside this, I've been reading about things happening on the opposite side of Africa, in Kenya, regarding the fight against HIV and Aids which is still one of the main killers on the dark continent. I'll be attending a reading about this next week, subsequently trying to get in touch with the organizers and attempt to support them to a certain level on a voluntary basis.
The world is a much bigger picture than what we are usually confronted with. By reading and exploring issues that live among people worldwide, one can work towards doing small things that may have huge results. The art then lies in finding some sort of balance between your own daily reality and the way you are trying to contribute to improving conditions in other parts of the world.
Matter of the fact is you can't neglect your own life and reality because of what goes on elsewhere, but one can damn well try to make small contributions in order to try and *do* something. That does not always have to be a monetary contribution, which in all honesty I am somewhat sceptical about, myself. Then again I am in a "comfortable" position allowing me to try and help in other ways. My work takes me to places most people from the Western world will probably never come and allows me to stay there for short periods of time. The frequency of my travels being rather high establishes some kind of personal aid bridge between two continents which, as I mentioned earlier, I am aiming to further develop.
I hope this small story is of some interest to at least some of you. Apart from this sand exploitation site, we also met with several organizations working on the recognition of children in society and we've seen the inside of a prison which was... well, and experience of its own. These are all eye openers, my friends.
If anyone wants to hear more, feel free to contact me either in this thread or through PM.
I also hope this post will move others to share their own stories. And let's not forget... share pictures of yourselves in WoY dress around the world! Yes, I also mean e.g. attending an open air festival in your backyard. You can't expect everyone to travel to Afghanistan with a toque under their helmet, right? (If you don't know what I'm talking about, let's hope Miltbrand will step in with a story or two in this here thread. Haha.)
Despite my initial scepticism, I was lucky enough to get a hold of one of those toques. It arrived in the mail the very day I was leaving for Sierra Leone in Western Africa so I decided to move it straight from the envelope into my suitcase and... here's the result.
Even though I was not thinking of posting this picture here in the forum let alone move on to explain about what can be seen in it (apart from that git with the WoY toque of course, hehe), I was motivated to go ahead and do so by someone who obviously knows what he's talking about as well, so I have come to realize.
Incidentally, the kid next to me in the picture is working in a sand exploitation site, being the lake you can see behind us. Children as young as 4 years of age (personal estimate) were performing different tasks there. The teenage boys actually dived down holes that were drilled in the bottom of the lake bringing buckets of sand up to a small boat of which the contents were then brought ashore. Their only equipment being a boat and a shovel, I might add. No oxygen supply or anything remotely resembling that.
Unicef, the UN's organisation focusing on the wellbeing of children worldwide, is working hard to get in touch with local governments in order to improve the situation for these children and have them attend school rather than work in places like this all day long. Anyone having any experience with Africa and its local customs and politics will know this is a hard nut to crack.
We were lucky enough to be able to see the Unicef representative at work and I have to say a major kudos goes out to him and his staff. I've travelled to Africa quite often during the passed few years and have seen things I never thought imaginable. Things that put reality into perspective, to say the least. Trips like the one we just took stand for unique experiences. Alongside this, I've been reading about things happening on the opposite side of Africa, in Kenya, regarding the fight against HIV and Aids which is still one of the main killers on the dark continent. I'll be attending a reading about this next week, subsequently trying to get in touch with the organizers and attempt to support them to a certain level on a voluntary basis.
The world is a much bigger picture than what we are usually confronted with. By reading and exploring issues that live among people worldwide, one can work towards doing small things that may have huge results. The art then lies in finding some sort of balance between your own daily reality and the way you are trying to contribute to improving conditions in other parts of the world.
Matter of the fact is you can't neglect your own life and reality because of what goes on elsewhere, but one can damn well try to make small contributions in order to try and *do* something. That does not always have to be a monetary contribution, which in all honesty I am somewhat sceptical about, myself. Then again I am in a "comfortable" position allowing me to try and help in other ways. My work takes me to places most people from the Western world will probably never come and allows me to stay there for short periods of time. The frequency of my travels being rather high establishes some kind of personal aid bridge between two continents which, as I mentioned earlier, I am aiming to further develop.
I hope this small story is of some interest to at least some of you. Apart from this sand exploitation site, we also met with several organizations working on the recognition of children in society and we've seen the inside of a prison which was... well, and experience of its own. These are all eye openers, my friends.
If anyone wants to hear more, feel free to contact me either in this thread or through PM.
I also hope this post will move others to share their own stories. And let's not forget... share pictures of yourselves in WoY dress around the world! Yes, I also mean e.g. attending an open air festival in your backyard. You can't expect everyone to travel to Afghanistan with a toque under their helmet, right? (If you don't know what I'm talking about, let's hope Miltbrand will step in with a story or two in this here thread. Haha.)
