ride for africycle

for my short stay at the country directors' home, i have jonny living on the other side of my bedroom wall. at the dinner table today, he announced that he would be gone for the weekend "just in case you care or something". i asked where he was going and he said he was off to Mt Mulange (Malawi's tallest mountain), not to do the climb, but to go around it. why? because that's johnny. he seems like your typical 20-something guy, but there are a few things that are not so typical 20-something of him:

Name: Jonny Perrott
Title: Africycle Country Director (Malawi)
Job: A little bit of everything.
Age: 22 and a 1/2
Status: Single
Height: Huge
Weight: 185lbs

My name is Jonny. I say and write the word “bike” in any given day enough times that it hurts. Am I a cyclist, you ask? Answer: Yes, but I think of my self more like a Cyclogist.

I live on a mountain. Cool eh? The Ride for Africycle is a thing that excites me. What are some other things that excite me, you ask? Answer: big fires, high speed, blueprint and technical drawings, big ideas, a good poo, cool drawings, nice people, keepin’ it real, good storytelling, jokes, adventure, music . . .

I am not going to be joining any of you in the “Ride for Africycle.” But, I will be doing a version of the “Ride from Africycle”
my ride will be a self supported solo ride from July 3–5/2009.

Day One: Starting at the Africycle shop located in Zomba, Malawi. I will be riding south to Mount Mulanje (Malawi’s tallest mountain)
Day Two: Riding around the mountain
Day Three: riding back to Zomba. (home) I will also be taking pictures along the way!

jonny is one of the co-founders of africycle and has been in malawi for the past 2 years setting up their initiative here. through the "re-cycle"-ing of bikes and bike shops in both canada and malawi, africycle's vision is to "use what we’ve got to provide those without opportunities the tools and a way to begin to lift themselves and their communities out of poverty.

jonny is trying to raise $100 for his SOLO ride to and around Mount Mulange - an estimated 211km while a team back in canada bikes around lake ontario. africycle is a great initiative and is truly empowering malawians. donate to africycle here.

almost...

total needed: $5500.00
grand total : $5030.50
________________
balance: $469.50

almost there. almost :D
god, i am truly amazed.

thanks everyone SO very much :D

paying it forward is not easy.

update: presented at pastor loel's church today and sold 10 boxes of cupcakes and 4 mocha cakes = $200 AND got to see old friends ;p not old as in old in age, but old as in from a long time ago.

yesterday, i was on my way to subway home when a young guy stopped me and said that he didn't need his day pass anymore, and asked if i wanted it. i thought it was a genuine act of kindness, so i appreciatively agreed and we parted ways.

before i even got to islington i figured i should pay it forward. i was on my way out of the station, which in my mind was the strategic location to pass along the favour, and began mission: give away day pass.

#1 a middle-aged woman. reaction: no, kept walking.
#2 a man in his 30's. reaction: ignored me. asked again, and he responded with vulgar words, thinking i was asking for money.
#3 a young couple. reaction: they had metropasses.
#4, #5 reaction: no and no.

admittedly, i was a bit discouraged and frustrated after the first 3 people, especially after the rude response by #2. isn't it a funny world we live in, where kindness is difficult to distribute? where there is no shortage of local and global issues to be dealt with and people stepping up to those issues, but also where a small, sincere act of kindness is turned away? so lessons learned:

lesson: kindness is not conditional
i admittedly did want to stop after #2 because i'm sensitive like that, but then got caught in the just-one-more mentality, where i kept believing the next person would take it. i tried a handful of times and may have failed to pay it forward, but if i had stopped trying after #1 or #2, then that would have been true failure. i would have failed because im conditioning my efforts based on the reactions of others. kindness should be taken like an exponential distribution: memory less of past failures or successes. efforts in kindness should not depend on whether the last person you tried to be kind to accepted or rejected your efforts.

edit: wow, that was mega mathie (:

lesson: not everyone wants help
i think this was highly humbling and an extremely important lesson for the summer. there i was, wide-eyed and ready to make someone's day brighter because someone had done so for me, but there were no takers. in cases where people had metropasses, i was trying to fix a problem that was already solved. in cases where people didn't have metropasses, i was trying to help in a situation where people didn't want/need help.

lesson: people don't want help from those they don't trust
a couple people responded with a kind "no, thank you" and others just reacted with a confused stare. however, had i attempted to give the pass to a friend or acquaintance, they would have surely taken it due to a level of trust we had built. in this lies the importance of building relationships. i faltered because i can't push kindness onto anyone. as good as my intentions were, clearly, it was not working for me. kindness is best passed on in its rawest, most sincere form. and this form can not be known by a complete stranger before a relationship is built. in order to effectively pass on kindness, a level of accountability and trust has to be built in order for the exchange of raw, sincere kindness to take place.

and also, if someone wants to give you their day pass, please take it. that just might make their day =)

vaccinate me.

happy thought of the day:

all my vaccinations/medications are completely, 100% covered by sunlife.

rabies: $600
malaria pills: $300
typhoid: $30
prevention of all of the above: priceless

what a blessing! gotta love insurance plans :D

the power of prayer

apologies to anyone who's been waiting for a real post. i'm amused that during finals time, i would find many opportunities to post, but now that school is done, i haven't made any time at all! there really are no excuses, so what have i been doing? going full-swing into fundraising.

as today is the 58th observed national prayer day and obama signed the prayer day proclamation, it makes me think about the power of prayer.

i gave my presentation at church, and told people how God was revealing His plan for me through answered prayers. i told them how i was daunted by cost of the trip, then how Helen informed me that they had overestimated by $2000. i also told how i was worried about going alone, but then Kathleen decided to also go to Malawi and we'll most likely live together. and more recently, i've been praying about getting my funds in for tomorrow's flight booking deadline. 24h ago, i was $700 short. after 2 phone calls and being informed that my ticket went down $200 and i am now $400 over and almost half-way to $6000 =) amazing, isn't it?

while going through the truth project, one of the first questions they asked was

"do you really believe that what you believe is really real?"

it's a tough question to swallow but if i could somehow answer "yes", then wouldn't my every action be done so with humility and love? if i did really believe in the power of prayer, wouldn't i be on my knees praying all day instead of trying to make time for prayer?

i have personally experienced the power of diligent prayer. the wonder and amazement of praying for something days and weeks on end and seeing the prayer answered =) i've also experienced frustration with prayer. praying for sometihng for days and weeks on end, only to hear God say "No, not now."

last week, 10-year-old ella from church gave me this:












the two things i worry (and pray) about most are: being effective and raising funds. it's amazing for me to see ella&cd shake their allowances out of their piggy banks for my benefit when they dont fully understand what im doing. somtimes i need to be more like ella and blur out the fine details and simply understand that God will have His way in my life. and really believe that what i believe is really real.

"for when two or three are gathered in My name, there I am with them."

- matthew 18:20

FUNding

just a quick fundraising update:

• Cupcakes for Change Waterloo raised $1000 :D
• Cupcakes for Change Mississauga has about $150 in orders so far
• Sunday Snacks raised $205 on Sunday #1

Coming soon: Online donations can be made to my account on Canada

Only $5000 more to go...
God will provide.

"Call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not."

- jerimiah 33:3

swirls, hearts and butterflies.

lets lighten it up a bit (:

cupcakes for change has been going extremely well and requiring days of mass baking in the house. we usually bake, stuff and box for 6hours and make about 200 cupcakes. on baking days, our entire kitchen is covered with cupcakes. behind the milk, by the rice cooker, if there's a 2"x2" of free space, it will soon be occupied by a cupcake!














thanks to CT, and my quality assurance girls who constantly taste the cupcakes to make sure they're of utmost quality. they eat the ones that are too big, crooked, not red enough, or have too much icing =P also thanks to jef and MW, there's no one better than engineers to make my boxes.












cupcakes are getting better and better by the batch. last week, i made the BEST batch ever! they were so red and moist, and the icing was mixed to perfection. finally. now is the best time to order! we're also getting more creative with the designs: swirls, hearts, and springtime butterflies.













i gave up cupcakes and chocolate until Easter, and despite the hundreds of cupcakes i've baked, it was never too difficult until charlene made her vanilla cupcakes with a chocolate and condensed milk icing :O mMmm they looked AMAZING!

above fundraising, my baking skills have gone from amateur to expert (my very first batch in february produced brown cupcakes...not red) and i've also been able to reconnect with old friends. thanks everyone :) for anyone back home, i'll bake when i get home, i promise.
for anyone in waterloo, order now or forever hold your peace. i will take exam time orders if you tell me now. they're a great way to keep your sugar levels up.

total collected: $550
total ordered: $750

cupcakes for change

Last thursday I began fundraiser #1: Cupcakes for Change. One week later, I have collected $200 and have orders for $590(I will start a counter on the side once I learn how to..Ruby?).

The response has been truly amazing and motivates me to put everyone's money to good use. I promise I will not disappoint.

I baked from 4:00-10:00PM last night and made a remarkable mess of the kitchen, but managed to make about 200 cupcakes. Thank you to the girls for all the help (LC, MW, CT).

Fundraising tip of the week: Grocery stores are usually willing to donate some ingredients if you tell you are fundraising and bring a letter. But don't expect to walk in with your letter and out with your stuff ;p