I’m on my way home from the slums of Nairobi, Kenya after working on our second documentary film. I’m exhausted, and my head is continually spinning. To put it simply, as with every Africa trip so far, I will not be the same. I was hoping to post every day while there, but with limited web access and two great writers, Bob Davidson and author Kelsey Timmerman on the trip, I decided to simply photo blog (via Facebook) and spend the majority of my time trying to run the crew as best as possible and fully soak in the experience.

It’s hard to explain or express what an experience this trip to Africa has been. Filming a documentary in the slums is bound to change you, but I was not expecting this. I had been to Kibera (Africa’s 2nd largest slum) and Mathare (Nairobi’s oldest) before, but not up close and personal.

We spent seven straight days trying to get to know the slum residents, seeing what they see, walking, touching and smelling their environment. The location was different than our last documentary project (This is My Home), but sadly many of the same issues exist, all of which are simply not right. Dangerous living structures, no roads, unhealthy water, no sanitation, no waste removal, lack of education, no health care, crime, fear, HIV/AIDS, loss of hope, and the vulnerability of children to simply name a few. It was a rare day when you didn’t turn your face to cry for a few minutes.

The issues of the slums are so complex – government corruption, health concerns, religious culture, commerce, structural issues, etc… And the fact of the matter is that us Westerners tend to think we actually live in an Extreme Home Makeover world. If we build this, or fund that project, all things get fixed and fall in place. But that way of thinking is simply not accurate, and it inevitably continues to add to the issues. The reality is that we need to help battle the biggest monster of all: generations of slum residents with mindset that slum life and its living conditions are acceptable. But, hopelessness cannot be an option.

However, it was a feeling that continued to surface wherever we went. Mathare Valley (a section of the Mathare slum) is without question the worst place I have ever been. With a contaminated river, treacherous pathways, raw sewage, horrible living conditions, and water not safe to drink – it’s simply an awful place to try to survive.

I will be sharing more stories and details related to the slums leading up to our documentary premiere (this Fall); however, I will leave you with a few facts, thoughts, and stories from this week:

- Approx 80% of the citizens of Nairobi live in some sort of slum dwelling.

+ Everyone likes to be called by name, no matter where you live.

- A local health worker visited a house to check in on a sick child. When entering the house she found the 6 year old making a meal for his siblings, because their mother was dead in the next room.

+ A child’s smile and joyous laugh is a beautiful thing.

- Many African families in the slums try to have more than one child due to the likelihood of one dying.

+ Taking time to hold, hug or touch a child’s hand can change their day…and yours.

- 1 meal a day is a good day, but the meal is typically the same thing over and over and over and over…

+ A life without dreams is not a life but an existence.

- During the rainy season people, mainly children, run the risk of being swept away due to inadequate infrastructure between the river and homes.

+ The poor are worth our time, prayers, and resources, and we need to SEE them.

- Without money for health care, parents often give their children local or herbal painkillers in order to help their child cope with the pain instead of getting adequate care. Usually the kids just get used to or live with whatever health issue they have, which in turn can be something that kills them.

I do not write these things for any other reason than that they are real in our world right now. And even for the most marginalized communities there is hope. NGO’s like Life In Abundance are working to help change the mindset of the poor communities they work with so they feel they are worth breathing the same air we do. They are worth joy. They are worth living a life as abundantly as possible. They believe, as do I, that a changed mind is key – a changed mind gives you the hope to dream again.

I hope you consider supporting the film, or simply watching when it’s ready to premiere this Fall. Even better yet, is there something you can do to help the poor in your neighborhood?

PS: I would like to thank the efforts of the entire team, especially those you may want to follow or read their blogs:

Brian MacDonald – Web, Twitter
Kelsey Timmerman – Blog, Twitter
Von Glitshka – Web, Twitter
Bob Davidson – Blog, Twitter
Life In Abundance – Blog, Twitter
Tony Narducci – Web

You might be, without even knowing it…

Can apathy toward injustice hold a person as a captive, unable to make a difference? Or maybe it’s not the apathy, but the lack of information of how to truly help those facing harsh realities of poverty-stricken lands. Well, we’re about to find out.

Our good pal, author Kelsey Timmerman, has been taken hostage by his publisher, because of his indifference to injustice in Kenya. Since being “detained” to raise money to go serve in Africa, Kelsey has learned about Kibera, the largest slum south of the Sahara. Over 1 million people live on the outskirts of Nairobi in a slum where the average person lives without clean drinking water (read: mixed with sewage as there is only one latrine for every 100 people), without education (especially girls), and subject to gang tyranny, among other sad factors.

It’s time to do something.

Kelsey is hoping to raise enough money to partner with LIA, MacDonald Photography, and yours truly, to film a documentary about what can really change the situation: holistic community development through micro-enterprise. By giving people at the grass-roots level not only the dignity but also the practical necessity of having a stable, respected occupation, communities can change tremendously for the good of all. Together, we are hoping that this documentary will make the everyday American not only aware of the situation in African slums, but also of how to realistically help that situation change.

Want to escape apathy and help now? You can donate to the cause, learn more, help decide Kelsey’s fate by voting, or tweet this:
“Don’t be Held Hostage by Apathy! http://bit.ly/ae2XCA #apathyhostage”

Plus, all donors’ names will appear in the film credits. If you can’t wait for the release this fall, check out This is My Home, our first documentary about the street children of Ethiopia, and how LIA is working to bring hope into a desperate situation there.

Oh, and big props to our friends at Wiley and Relevant for helping us get the word out!

Have you ever wondered where your clothes are made or about the people who make them? Do you realize that the majority of the clothes bought in the U.S. do not come from this country? Our next interview is with author and friend, Kelsey Timmerman, who traveled around the world following his obsession of discovering who makes the clothes he wears. All of us at Rule29 love the concept of Kelsey’s book Where Are You Wearing. And after you meet him, a truly simple midwest guy looking to satisfy an overwhelming curiosity, you get the sense that he is a genuine article – check out his Flickr set for more proof. Enjoy this interview, one of the funniest we have had, and let us know what you think or “where you are wearing” today.

1: When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?
There wasn’t an epiphany or anything, just small little moments:

I won an award in 4th grade for a story about flying shoes.

In college I had a blast on an assignment for Religion 101 about Buddhism. I titled the paper “Quantum Leap of Faith” and it was largely based on the show “Quantum Leap” starring Scott Bakula. I got a C-.

I guess what really sealed the deal was when I started penning a column about some of my travels and realized that I could take folks around the world 800 words at a time.

2: Where did you go to school?
Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. (Miami was a school before Florida was a state! Eat it Florida!)

3: Did you have a teacher that really made an impact on you?
Fortunately, I’ve had a couple.

At Miami, Dr. Jonathan Levy, my geology professor, would treat his classes to pictures from his travels around the world to make certain points. I appreciated having a professor that understood exactly what he was seeing, but was still in awe of it.

Mrs. Dixie Marshall, my high school English teacher, was kind enough to put up with me. She eventually talked me into reading the non-Cliff’s Notes version of “The Tale of Two Cities” and is now one of my most valued proofreaders. If you see some grammatical mistakes in my answers here, blame the fact that I didn’t have Mrs. Marshall proof them.

4: What was your first big successful article or writing piece?
When the Christian Science Monitor published my story on teaching an island-village in Honduras how to play baseball, doors really started to open.

5: What was the initial inspiration for Where am I wearing?
I had this T-shirt with Tattoo from the TV show Fantasy Island on it. Remember Tattoo? He was the short fella that would holler, “De Plane! De Plane!” Anyhow, around Tattoo’s smiling mug was the phrase, “Follow Me To My Tropical Paradise.” I was curious where Tattoo’s tropical paradise was. I looked at the tag; it read Made in Honduras.

I wondered: What if I went to the countries where my clothes were made and met the people who made them? Where was I wearing?

I thought I should know a little something about the people who make my clothes. I piled up my favorite items of clothing on the floor, checked the tags, and hit the road.

6: How long did it take you to turn your inspiration into an actual trip?
In 2004 I started thinking about going the places where my clothes were made. In 2005 I went to Honduras where the quest almost ended before it began. In 2007 it became an obsession. I spent a month each in Bangladesh, Cambodia, and China before returning home, getting married, and visiting a garment factory in New York on my honeymoon. I still owe my wife a proper honeymoon.

7: What did your friends or family think about the idea?

It varied. Most were outwardly supportive, but I know deep down they were thinking, “Who the heck goes to Bangladesh because their underwear was made there?” There’s a fine line between published author and weird uncle.

My wife, Annie, is a saint.

8: Boxers or Briefs?
What are we going to be doing? See, I have a problem with that question. It really depends on the level of physical activity.

9: What was your expectation for your first trip?
Go jungle hiking and SCUBA diving and spend a day or two tracking down the factory that made my T-shirt. When I met Amilcar a worker at the factory, I wasn’t expecting that I would be unable to ask him the questions I wanted to know: does this job provide a better life for your family? How much are you paid? Are you happy? Deep down I think I didn’t want to know.

10: What was the biggest lesson or key learning from that initial trek?
Sometimes it’s easier to not know a thing. You know, the whole ignorance is bliss theory?

When I got home, my experience with Amilcar haunted me. I became absolutely obsessed with clothing tags and wondering what life was like for the people who make my clothes.

I learned that the realities of the world are harsh, but I wanted to know.

11: Where have you been since your big excursion, besides Geneva?
I’ve been pretty busy tackling life’s milestones: marriage, authorhood, fatherhood. I’ve been to Kentucky waterskiing, Utah for my brother’s wedding, but that’s about it.

12: What countries or areas were the most surprising to you?
I was blown away by the hospitality I received in Bangladesh.

13: What country of the ones that you visited needs the most change or regulation?
China. The laws are in place; it’s just that they are completely ignored. Workers aren’t supposed to work more than 44 hours in a single week. The workers I met worked more than 100 hours a week.

14: What was one of your funniest travel experiences?
In Bangladesh I went to a rock concert and a guy came up to me and asked if he could get his picture taken with me. I thought that was kind of weird but I obliged. After that, everyone whipped out their camera phones and we’re trying to get a photo with me. Eventually, the photo shoot turned into a sort of mosh pit. I slithered out and left the concert. I was too famous to stay.

15: Most scary?
Walking through mine fields in Cambodia.

16: What was/is your hope for this book and message?
That readers relate to the workers I introduce in the book and become more engaged with the the brands and stores they buy from.

17: What has been some of the positive feedback been?
Here’s one of my favorite emails that I’ve received. This one is from a student at Rutgers: “I am a college junior at Rutgers and I just read your book for a research paper. . . . I have long struggled to cope with the realities under which my clothes were made. I really appreciated getting to see the personal side of this issue, completely stripped of politics. Where I Am Wearing? affected me in a profound way.”

18: Negative?
The Financial Times called me an ignorant moron, but they are bunch of know-it-all jackasses, so it didn’t really phase me at all.

19: Any corporate lash back?
If I had a nickel for every time someone at a corporation said, “I’m not sure I feel comfortable talking to you,” I’d be rich. Most corporations don’t want to have a grownup dialog about the fact our clothes are made elsewhere by people who make less in a year than we spend on donuts.

I’m trying my best to get the dialog going, though. Every week I examine one item of clothing (where it was made, who made it, how socially and environmentally responsible the company is) and report my findings on my blog.

20: Which brands do you feel are doing the best?
I’m all for any brand that at acknowledges their social and environmental impacts of their business. Patagonia is doing some pretty neat things, including the Footprint Chronicles.

21: What do you think would surprise most Americans about where their clothes are made?
There are very few machines involved in the process of making our clothes, just lots of people. Eighty-five people have a hand in sewing together a single pair of jeans and that doesn’t count the guy who sandblasts the jeans or the girls who fray them by hand.

22: What is the average daily or monthly range for the people that make our clothes?
Bangladesh=$24/month
Cambodia=$50/month
China=$150/month
Perry, NY=$9.00/hour

23: How can we be a part of change?
Check the tag! Stop whatever you are doing right now, grab your shirt collar, and see where you are wearing. Take a moment to think what life is like in that country. If you don’t know, find out. Try to find brands that match your beliefs. If you’re favorite brand isn’t quite where you would like them to be socially or environmentally, let them know. Give them some encouragement to do better.

24: What are the positives of our use of foreign labor workers?
In places like Bangladesh and Cambodia the garment sector alone counts for 75% of exports. If those jobs weren’t there, millions of people would be without jobs. These aren’t great jobs and, in fact, there is a lot of room for improvement, but often the options in developing countries are pretty limited.

The workers I met sacrifice a lot to have their job. One persons sweatshop is another’s opportunity.

25: What’s next?
This fall and spring, I’m doing a lot of speaking. After that I have a few book ideas I would like to get to.

26: What is your best travel tip?
Make friends with a local. They know where to have fun, where to eat, and where to avoid.

27: Favorite childhood superhero?
Batman

28: Favorite travel food in your backpack?
Beef Jerky. Stuff some in the bottom of your pack and forget about it. Years later if you’re far from civilization with hunger pains, you’ll reach down into your pack and pull out a few pieces. It will taste better than anything you’ve ever eaten.

29: What does design mean to you?
To me, design means that someone takes ideas I never knew I had, lays them out in a shiny fashion, and then I take credit for it.

Have you seen my website? Oh, you have. You love it! Thanks, I designed it.

PS: Follow Kelsey on Facebook and Twitter!

It’s hard to believe that summer is near halfway over, but that just means the fresh goodies from local farms and gardens are ready to be enjoyed. In that spirit, from our now one-year-old new home, we have cooked up a fresh Creative Matters boasting all natural ingredients. This tasty version is jam-packed with all kinds of creative goodness…please be careful, don’t eat too fast, or at least wait an hour before you go swimming.

:: Click here to download Creative Matters 21 ::

See you next Creative Matters,
Rule29

PS: An anniversary or special occasion coming up? Talk to us about creating a unique and customized book along with an accompanying micro-site. Check out Books Matter.

The last two months have provided lots of new things at Rule29. Like most of you, we are working hard to keep things rolling in these current conditions. In that hard work (or maybe this is just my excuse) I’m keeping up the new tradition of doing this every two months.

New Stuff: We finally launched our business tips and various ramblings on our new Designer Sobriety blog. Please check it out and comment away. Also follow DS on Twitter or Linked In.

In addition, we launched a new site highlighting our love and faith in great books by telling our clients’ unique and amazing stories. Check out Books Matter, which is a consortium of companies committed to creating the perfect book for your business.

Books and Movies: I was so bad about books these last two months, and I really didn’t get out to the theater. Bummer. But I do recommend three great books that I’m still working through. They couldn’t be more diverse. Check these out: Choosing To Cheat, Designing for the other 90%, Where are You Wearing. The only movies I was able to enjoy were some NetFlix magic. I dug them both: Expelled and ReCount.

Speaking: Our friends at AIGA Jacksonville had us down to talk about why we love design. Jacksonville in early March is always a great idea! Thanks AIGA Jax!

Raising Awareness: Thanks to a couple great friends we have two new ways to be involved with one of the organizations we support: Life in Abundance. If you love books check out their book microsite: Urban and Rural Hope. Or for our letterpress fans check out A Lasting Imprint.

Travel: Fun times in Jacksonville & Arizona. The Rule29 team also ventured to the great state of Pennsylvania for the Cheech™’s wedding. And I was honored to join the Life in Abundance board and attend their meeting at the chairman’s house in Louisville, KY.

New amigos: We have had the opportunity to start working and getting to know author Kelsey Timmerman (new blog coming soon). If you haven’t heard of his book Where Are You Wearing – check it out here. Or follow him on Twitter. By the way, where are you wearing right now?

Also we have got our foodie needs met working with Chef Jeremy from Niche Restaurant. Helping Niche get the news out of the amazing food they make has been a blast. Check Niche out here or follow Jeremy’s blog.

Great Cooking: Thanks to our friends at Appleton Coated and Utopia Paper, we participated in the Designer Iron Chef Challenge. We took on our friends from Appleton, Grip and Faust design. We finished second but had a great time cooking … with a special thanks to Chef Jeremy! Pictures are ready and video is coming soon.

This month holds a return trip to Africa for Rule29 and hopefully a bunch of new and interesting creative matter. Please let us know what you have been up to! See you in two months.