Sunday, October 26, 2014

TOMS: An Ethics Case Study in Volunteerism

As many of you know, Prior to PC service I was in charge of training and recruiting volunteers at a university. In these programs, I would challenge my students to grapple with several ethical, social, or moral issues that arise during volunteer service.

Joe and I just had an experience that fits directly into these categories…

Setting the Stage (Hook):
One day, our custodian stopped by and measured my shoe size. I was confused and asked if we were buying shoes. She said, “No. These shoes are free. We will just take this size and get the shoes.” I was confused, but she left before I could ask more questions. I found out later that day that I had been included on an order for a free pair of TOMS shoes… I had many feelings about this and it prompted many questions about ethics, sustainability, and volunteerism.

((If you are currently thinking, “What? Why? Just take the shoes,” I would challenge you to explore these questions and to fight the urge to find the “right answer.” The beauty about these issues is that there is no absolute right answer. That is why I love this work so much! ))

TOMS "One for One" Shoes

Context:
If you are not familiar with the TOMS “One for One” program, I will provide a quick summary. TOMS shoes are made very simply with a flat, rubber bottom, thick canvas, and either some elastic or a few holes for laces. They are fairly popular and the cost reflects this. Many folks justify this cost because TOMS has a “One for One” promise, which: for each pair sold in the developed world, one new (though much lower quality) pair is donated to a person in the “developing” world.

Rural South Africa would be classified as “developing.” Many children go to school barefoot. Learners’ uniforms are often held together, literally, by a thread. Electricity and water are not always reliable. Unemployment rate in Kwa-Zulu Natal is 45%. Many families are suffering from the effects of HIV/AIDS. Financial struggles abound. A new pair of shoes that the family doesn’t need to figure out how to pay for? That is a blessing.

The Dilemma(s):
As you can assume from the “Setting the Stage” section, TOMS uses the school system to help deliver these shoes to children. Schools are able to record the desired sizes and place an order for the shoes needed. I found out that the shoes are from TOMS because a teacher asked me to help compile the desired sizes for the order form.

Dilemma 1: There are roughly 430-ish students, educators, and volunteers associated with my school. The order form had over 500 shoes. When discussing this with others, some responded to this number difference as “taking advantage” of the system.

Personal Thoughts: The majority of the extra shoes went to family or other community members connected to the students. My question is: if the shoes are being given to someone who needs them, does it matter if they are physically at this one, specific school? Personally, I do not have issue with this; though I will admit that it felt a little yucky when I initially looked at the numbers.

Dilemma 2: Some teachers are still wearing their TOMS shoes from the last order. Again, this elicited some knee-jerk reaction of “taking advantage” of the system.

Personal Thoughts: These shoes are of very poor quality. One person says that he is able to tell where he has walked because the rubber flakes off so easily. The old pair is probably about worn thin.
My personal feeling: Those with worn-out shoes—even worn-out TOMS—are the target recipients. So, I do not see this as a departure from their mission. Is it sustainable? Evidently not. Is there a long-term benefit? Perhaps no. Is there a reasonable/justifiable, temporary benefit received by the community? I think so. Would it have a slightly longer lasting impact if they donated shoes of the same quality as those available for purchase? Definitely. I imagine that TOMS is aware of these issues. They have since developed other programs that have more potential for sustainability than the “One for One” shoe program.

Dilemma 3:  To accept the TOMS shoes, or to not accept the shoes? That is the question.

To Not Accept The Shoes:
I am not the intended recipient of these shoes. The buyers in the US didn’t think to themselves, “Hey, I really want to buy these shoes for that volunteer who willingly chose to live in rural Africa.” I chose to be here. This is temporary for me. Although I cannot afford new shoes on my living allowance, the fact remains that I have enough financial access and privilege to get new shoes on my own accord. Shoot, if I was that fed up with my situation, I could always just go home. Not to mention that I had enough financial security in the US that I brought all the shoes I could need with me.
To think of it another way … Although I may be living at the same standard as my community, it would be completely immoral and inappropriate for me to seek need-based grants that are available to those in my community. Perhaps these shoes are a form of those need-based grants?

To Accept the Shoes:
When I tried to explain to my other teachers why I shouldn’t receive the shoes, they were bothered by my protests. I am a part of their community now, why was I trying to differentiate myself from them? In volunteerism, we talk about serving “with, beside and for” the community.  Am I unnecessarily setting myself apart from them? Is my white-US-financial privilege causing me to take an “us vs. them” approach in my service—that someone “like me” can’t possibly be in a position of need?

Conclusion:
At the end of the day, Joe and I have each received and accepted one pair of shoes. I predict that one of two things will happen: I will either give the shoes to someone in my community or start to use them, with a vow to buy a pair of TOMS when I return to the US as a way to atone.

Sunday, October 19, 2014

A Weekend Away

Michelle and I had a splendid time with our friend Patty, a Peace Corps Volunteer from our cohort, a couple of weekends ago. During the first few months while we’re settling into our permanent site, we’re allowed to travel away one weekend per month as long as we stay within our province. Michelle and I decided to use our weekend to visit Patty. (See The Kindness of Strangers for an account of our journey travelling to Patty).

During our visit with Patty, we talked, shared high’s and lows about our Peace Corps experience thus far, baked pizza and made French toast, and played one of my favorite games – Settlers of Catan. It felt so good to get away for the weekend. The trip gave me something to which to look forward. I haven’t been the kind of person who likes to stay stationary or spend all day indoors. I like to get out, explore, and to see and do things. Since I arrived in South Africa, my experience has been more like the former. It has been an adjustment for me to spend so much time in one place. Spending a weekend with Patty gave me exactly what I needed.

Michelle & Patty Playing Settlers.  So nerdy! :D
Patty asked for a "shout out" to the ironing board in the background that doubles as a table.
Further, conversation with Patty was enlightening. I have had significantly more free time on my hands since I’ve gotten to South Africa. This has given me time to reflect and process. Talking with Patty helped me process through some things because she gave me language that I could use to describe what I have been feeling. As an added bonus, Patty shared some life wisdom that helped to give me perspective on some of my own life experiences.

In addition to seeing Patty, when we went to the mall in her shopping town, we got to see another volunteer from our cohort, Karen, and spend the day with her too. Having a weekend away was a wonderful gift. I look forward to the next one.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

The Casper Slide

Throwback Thursday...

***This post was originally written on 2 September 2014.  I accidentally saved it a different folder than where I keep posts, so I didn't know it was there.  Now that I've found it again, I'm uploading it to the blog.  Enjoy!***

Today was a great day at English Club. It was the last day before the club ended, so my co-instructor, Guillermo, and I taught a lesson about American culture. We decided to focus on music from around the country. We showcased Rock (go Cleveland! – Home of Rock ‘n Roll), Rap, R&B, Country, and others. We ended by having our learners listen to The Casper Slide.

If you’ve never heard it before, here’s a link to hear what we showed them:


The Casper Slide is a great song to teach learners who are learning English as their first additional language. It’s catchy and the lyrics are instructions to dance.

Guillermo and I wrote the lyrics/instructions on the chalkboard. As the song played, I pointed at the various instructions so the learners would connect the words visually and auditorily. Guillermo and I then modeled how to perform the dance moves associated with the instructions. This is where the fun part came in – we had the learners then start dancing with us! They fumbled a bit at first; like most first-timers do. However, after a few repetitions, the learners danced quite well.

One of the times they danced, I ran to the classroom next to mine to see if the instructors were okay with my learners performing for their learners. The instructors were on board, so I ran back to my classroom and told my learners what they were going to do. My learners were excited and nervous. When the music started, they started dancing, and the other class went berserk. The other learners thought it was so cool that my learners were dancing and, further, dancing for them. My learners had a blast learning the dance. As they exited the classroom at the end of the day, I could hear some of them humming the song.

Monday, October 13, 2014

The Kindness of Strangers

If I was in the U.S. planning a trip, I would Google the address and plug it into my phone. I would use the directions given through the Maps app on my phone to drive to my destination. But I’m not in the U.S. I am in South Africa and Michelle and I had to find our way to our friend’s house who lives a considerable distance from our home. To tell the ending of this story first, we made it to our friend’s house and we had a blast spending time together. Now, to share how we made it to our friend, Michelle and I also have to thank the people who helped us get to her.

Michelle and I wanted to visit a friend of ours, Patty, who lives a couple of hours away. Since we’re not allowed to drive, we needed to take public transportation. This is where the first instance of kindness comes in. After school one day, I walked to the taxi rank, which is the hub for all of the taxis going out of our village, to ask the manager how we would get to our friend’s shopping town. (Virtually all Peace Corps Volunteers in South Africa do not live in cities, or shopping towns, but, instead, live in villages outside the towns. This basically means that Michelle and I were trying to get somewhere remote). The manager was great because he told me the times the taxi runs, where we would need to transfer, and how much we could expect to spend. Michelle and I had the information we needed, so we were set for our trip.

At the end of the school day on Friday, we loaded our backpacks with clothes and other essentials for the weekend and we headed to the taxi rank. Things were smooth sailing: we got to the rank, confirmed we were getting on the correct taxi, and we left. Not having travelled outside our village before, we made it a point to tell the taxi driver our final destination and we asked him to help us find the taxi we would need to make the transfer. When we got into the next town, the driver asked a couple of people to find the taxi we would need to continue on our trip. He found the taxi, we paid the taxi fare, and sped off in the new taxi.

As we neared the final town, Michelle and I again told the taxi driver where we were trying to go and asked if he could help us find the taxi we would need in order to get to our friend’s village. This is where our trip got more complicated. Our friend lives outside a fairly large town, so there are lots of taxi ranks with each having taxis heading in different directions. The taxi driver was great because he asked other drivers in the main taxi rank which taxi we would need. The other drivers pointed him in the direction of a smaller taxi rank where they believed we would find the taxi. He drove us to the next rank and asked drivers there. There was a little confusion because some of the drivers hadn’t heard of our friend’s village. After a few minutes, though, our taxi driver said we were in the right place. He said we would have to wait for the next taxi because one just left. Michelle and I thanked the driver, paid the fare, and got out to wait for the next taxi.

As we waited for the taxi, Michelle and I couldn’t help but notice that this taxi rank was merely a parking lot. There were a few taxis sitting there. However, if it had not been for the driver, we would have had trouble finding this rank. We realized how kind the driver had been to us. He could have left us in the main rank and we could have been on our own.

Waiting for the next taxi seemed to take a while. Fortunately, though, there were some vendors selling fruits and vegetables in the parking lot. We approached one of them and asked if we were waiting in the right area. The vendor confirmed and she said she would see a taxi soon. Thirty minutes went by before the taxi came, but, when it did, the vendor got our attention and told us to get in. Apparently, she used the same taxi to go home, which I learned when she got in with us.

Along the way to our friend’s village, the vendor, along with her business partner, made conversation with others in the taxi. Some of the others bought steamed corn on the cob from the vendor. The vendor’s partner said something in isiZulu to Michelle, but we didn’t understand. The next thing we knew the partner pulled out a couple of ears of corn and handed them to us free of charge. We smiled as we thanked her for the corn. As I was sitting there, I thought I should give her something. Before Michelle and I left our house, I baked chocolate chip cookie bars to give to our friend. The cookie bars were sitting in my bag, so I pulled out the container and offered one to the vendor. She was flattered. Another passenger in the taxi was curious so she asked for a cookie bar. Michelle and I smiled again as the two ate the cookie bars and were amazed at not only how good they were but also that I made them. They couldn’t believe a man could bake let alone bake something good.

After a bumpy ride along the village road, Michelle and I made it to our friend’s place. We were grateful for the journey to be done. Our friend was beginning to tell us where we would sleep for the weekend when her host family approached us to introduce themselves. During the introductions, the host mom told us that we could sleep in their spare bedroom so we could have a bed instead of sleeping on the floor. Icing on the cake. Michelle and I were prepared to sleep in sleeping bags on the ground, but we were grateful for the bed for a much more comfortable night’s sleep.

The next day, we wanted to go to the mall in our friend’s shopping town. The three of us were planning to catch a taxi to get there; however, the host mom said her husband would give us a ride. We said he didn’t have do drive us; especially because he would have just finished working the night shift and would probably be tired. The host mom said not to worry because her husband would get joy out of driving us. When our friend’s host dad got home, we hopped into his truck and off we went. On Sunday, when Michelle and I were leaving to head home, the last act of kindness happened. Our friend’s host sister accompanied us to the road to make sure we got on a taxi.

There were several acts of kindness in just a few days. Taxi drivers, vendors, and host family members who all helped us get to where we were trying to go. Michelle and I were confident that we would have had a much more difficult, and longer, time getting to our friend if it had not been for them. We were, and still are, incredibly grateful for the kindness of these strangers.



Friday, October 3, 2014

Peace Corps Living Life Hacks (Part 1)

Life Hack (ˈlʌɪfhak/): refers to any trick, shortcut, skill, or novelty method that increases productivity and efficiency, in all walks of life. (source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_hacking)
Peace Corps living (low budget flow, borrowed space, new country, unreliable/limited access to conveniences we are accustomed to) is the perfect breeding ground of creative "life hacks." We are enjoying the process of coming up with these tricks and are eager to share. We hope you find them as amusing as we have....

Cracked Flooring/Foundation: We discovered that our flooring has several serious cracks. In some places, it creates a deep bowl shape. The family had taken steps to minimize the effect by piling sheets of linoleum over the area. As new arrivals, we still had many chunks of compressed Styrofoam packaging and cardboard around. Hopefully, you have these same materials because they are key in this life hack.... Insert puzzle-pieced chunks of Styrofoam into bowl-shaped indentation (enough to mostly cover the area). Cover with cardboard. Cover with linoleum. Boom! A (more) even walking surface!

Lack of Roping for Hanging Mosquito Net: Use long strips of duct tape. Cut in half length-wise to reduce the amount of duct tape used. Take one of these skinny strips and fold it in half length-wise. Avoid folding the ends because you will need them to retain adhesiveness. Wrap one end of duct tape around ceiling post; adhere the end back onto the duct tape to create a loop (and minimize damage to the teal paint on said post). Wrap other end around the corner loop on the mosquito net. Adjust to appropriate height (be sure you can still tuck the ends under your mattress). Adhere the end back onto the duct tape. Repeat.

Rope o' Duct Tape

Lack of Rolling Pin: Use a Nalgene.
Joe demonstrates our "rolling-nalgene."
Cannot Hang Photos on the Wall: Attach a weighted fishing line to exposed ceiling beam. Attach photos with clothes pins. Extra: Attach sticks horizontally to add width to your pinning space.
Photo Display in our Main Room
Overall Effect








Cake Pan Too Big for Stoven*? (especially when you have gone to 7 stores searching for each item to begin with…): Use pliers to bend down the arms of the cake pan. Bonus: If it still doesn’t fit, throw the cake pan, curse the world, and take up an electricity-free lifestyle based on principle. 
"Won't fit in the stoven!? We'll see about that..." 
Need to Boil Water on Crappy Stoven-Top Burner?:  Pour just a little water in
pot and turn burner on high. Boil remaining water in electric tea kettle. Add boiled water from tea kettle to pot. Insert food item that needs boiling.

Need to Wash Your Hands But Running Water is Too Far Away?: Dilute handsoap in water. Pour into empty water bottle. Poke a hole in lid of said water bottle. Twist lid on. Voila!

Standard-Issue Wardrobe Might Take a Few Months to Be Delivered?: Those of you who know Joe know that he is a keep-it-organized-and-keep-it-ironed kinda guy. These natural tendencies + Living out of a suitcase in a culture that also values impeccable dress = Problem.  He is also an avid climber who geeks out over cool knots and anchors. This skillset + Exposed ceiling beams + New rope = Solution!  [Bonus for fellow climbing nerds... Featured knots: Single Bowline, Slipped Half-Hitch, and Alpine Butterfly (Joe adds that the alpine butterfly isn't necessary, "just nice to have.")]
Make-Shift Wardrobe
*The Alpine Butterfly knots are used to create dividers on the rope to prevent a drift towards the center.
Close-Up of the Slipped Half-Hitch


Stolen From Other PCVs:

Electricity-Free Flea Trap (mind you, I have no idea how to make an electric-ful flea trap, so that adjective may be unnecessary): Prepare a wide bowl with warm, soapy water. Take the long candlestick that you were intending to depend on for light after sunset. Mourn the sacrifice of said candlestick. Chop off the top of the candle and place it in the water, leave wick uncovered. Light wick. Fleas will allegedly jump after the light and will find themselves in their “watery grave” (…these are apparently pirate-fleas).

Computer Overheats When Sitting on Lap: WHAT?! You didn’t bring one of those fancy computer lap rests with built-in fan when you joined the Peace Corps? Of course not… Simply use an empty cereal box.

Bed-Bugs: Bleach mattress and set blankets/pillows to bake in the sun for two days.