Peacekeeper Truth Serum Blog

All of us here at PeaceKeeper want to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!

Have you ever wondered where your money goes when you purchase your Eco-Sensual Lip Balm or purple Grateful nail polish? Well PeaceKeeper and Freedom From Hunger are proud to present Ghana’s very own HealthKeepers!

Freedom From Hunger is an international NGO that works designs programs to address the needs of individual countries to combat poverty. Typical of Western Africa, Ghana is known for its lack of infrastructure, high poverty rates as well as widespread transmission of preventable diseases. HealthKeepers is a program designed to empower female entrepreneurs and provide rural areas with life-saving products and health information. The HealthKeeper program works with microfinancing, but with an important twist. Freedom From Hunger makes Health baskets with important hygiene products, malaria nets, insect repellent, and trains “HealthKeepers” so they can educate their customers.

I’ll be posting their stories for you throughout the next few months.

Peace,

Alice

Does anyone else remember the Recycle song from Rocco’s Modern Life?

Tomorrow, November 15th is AMERICA RECYCLES DAY. Here are a couple programs that help make a difference for our environment.

For all you runners out there, Nike is willing to take all of your smelly, muddy and worn out sneakers (even if they aren’t Nike) off your hands… or your feet, rather. NIKE GRIND is dedicated to collecting as many sneakers as possible to recycle and turn into playing surfaces for communities. Your old kicks could be used to make a basketball court, refurbish an outdoor track… there are tons of options. Click here for drop-off location information!

Remember last week’s post on cell phones and coltan? Recycling your old cell phone can drastically reduce the need for new material by almost 80,000 tons, according to Nokia. With over 5,000 recycle locations around the world, recycling your cell phone can help the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo by decreasing the incentive for groups to exploit coltan to meet the large demands of the technology industry.

The National Recycling Coalition has a list of events sorted by state, find out what’s happening near you!

Peace,

Alice

Being thankful isn’t only for Thanksgiving. It’s important to give thanks to the men and women who have served for our country in the name of Peace on Veteran’s Day. From World War I to the men and women currently stationed in foreign lands, we are all indebted for their service.

Peace,

Alice

We’ve all heard about the danger of radiation that cell phones emit. Many states have banned cell phone use while driving because it leads to distraction-related accidents—the commuter train crash in LA this year is a perfect illustration. Thieves can hack into cell phones remotely to steal your information. These are all acceptable risks given the numerous benefits, right? On my first date with friend of the family, my roommate kindly provided me with an exit strategy imbedded in a text message just incase it went sour (it was unnecessary; we’ve been dating for almost a year now). When my car broke down on my way home from work on a lonely road, I had AAA on speed dial to come to my rescue. This summer I had a brief stint where I was disconnected after my beloved phone took a tumble into the Potomac on the 4th of July (it’s a long story that involves gin and coke… Not something I’d recommend to anyone), and I was surprised how anxious I was. I felt lost. I felt a wave of relief when I had a new phone in my hands.

Despite being a household object for most of the world, I feel like not many people know much about how cell phones work. Sure, there are similar elements of land phones in cell phones, but they need something special work without wires. Would you believe me if I told you that cell phones run on blood and suffering? Coltan is a remarkable mineral; it is an integral part in all cell phones, laptops, GPS systems, and digital cameras. It is also fueling the deadliest conflict this world has seen since World War II in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The DRC contains 65% of the world’s coltan supplies, which is being exploited by rebel groups and national governments alike. The majority of coltan mines are located in the eastern region of the DRC, out of the government’s reach. Mining coltan and selling it to authorities (whether they be Congolese rebel groups or Rwandan troops) is often the only way villagers can earn money. Watch the documentary “Blood Coltan” below to see how far this problem extends, and what we need to do about it.

Peace,

Alice

What’s your drug of choice? Addiction is a funny thing in that it can manifest itself in emotional as well as physical forms. Is someone’s addiction to being in a relationship no matter the quality equitable to someone who can’t start the day without a cup of coffee? Addiction has had a rather nasty connotation in the years past, but lately I’ve seen it been ascribed to much lighter subject matters, like lip balm.

I laughed when I read the headline of an article posted in today’s Baltimore Sun. I couldn’t help but equate the withdrawal process that heroin addicts have to undergo to get clean—could the same terminology be used to describe the process of quitting lip balm? As I read further, I started to realize that obsession with lip balm was closer to home than I thought.

I can’t tell you how many lip products I own. Definitely in the double digits. At this instant I have three tucked away in various compartments of my school bag, not to mention the lip balm that I always tuck into the left pocket of my jeans. It would be no stretch to say that I’ve spent at least double on lip products than other cosmetics. It’s been estimated that the lip balm sales have increased dramatically with consumers spending an astounding $378 million dollars in one year.

I definitely use lip product on a daily basis. While on the field during a rugby match earlier this year I asked someone on the sidelines to bring me some balm during a time-out to sooth my wind burned lips. I remember the relief I felt as I applied before running back on the field. But was that relief real? Or was my relief just psychological? Am I an addict, PeaceKeepers? The thought of abandoning my Eco-Sensual Balm with winter approaching makes me cringe; New York winters are notoriously nasty. I see lip balm as a protective barrier between my body and the world. To be frank, using lip balm is just as much of my hygiene routine as brushing my teeth. If I don’t use I feel dirty and unattractive. Hello everyone, my name is Alice, and I’m a lip-balm-oholic.

Being an addict could be a good thing, if you know how to do it right. Knowing that my money is going to help women and children around the world each time I apply any PeaceKeeper product soothes my soul as well as my lips. Does it still count as rationalization if it’s true?

Peace,

Alice

This is a crucial year in American history, PeaceKeepers! Get your voice heard!

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

Peace,

Alice