Today...

Today I walk with a heavy heart

I wish it was not so

but it is

Last night we had a Seeds of Love and Hope meeting

first one of the year...

We had reports from the hill

these reports brought me to where I am today...

As it is with poverty

not only is crime a close companion

so is abuse

of all kinds

Like a mother who sells her daughter for the night

so she can buy propane for her cooking stove.

Truth is

in this kind of "on the edge" survival

I can not hold the mother by the throat

So

who is it then?

the mothers mother?

the great-grandmother?

When did the insanity start?

More importantly

how long will it go on?

Another one of our young girls is pregnant

15

a beautiful young girl

I remember the first time I met her
...she was 10

so vibrant and full of life

She disappeared for a while

leaving the area in which our center runs

Her family came back over a year ago

I remember when I saw her last year

something had changed...

Boys and Girls

at the mercy of those

whom they should be able to trust

and yet

these people know nothing else

thus is the poison of generational poverty

and when survival is executed

with limited education and knowledge

it is a muddled outcome

never satisfying the deep needs within.

Right now we have 120 kids that are in our program

With the facility we have now

we are having to cap that at 150

in order to serve that 150 well.

On Saturdays we have an open feed...

that day we can feed up to 300 hungry mouths.

There is a never ending need

Even as one family moves on another three come in

This can be very overwhelming...

BUT

I always come back to the same place

when I find myself here

This is Life...real Life

And I want to be engaged and awakened

to all that is going on in my world

I know that this is so much bigger than me

I know I am but a drop in an ocean

But with me I bring many drops

like all of you who have already so willingly

become my support

I have been so moved by your open hearts

by your willingness to help

I have been brought to tears

by your words of compassion

by your giving hearts

even though some of you

live in your own financial woes....

Already money has been coming in

thank you
those words come straight from my heart
I hope you feel them
I hope you know
that I can not do this
with out you
Wether your support is monetary
or spiritual
I need it
and
I will take it
And when I arrive in Medellin
I will pour it all out
onto all I come in contact with.

I believe

we are meant to give

I believe this is in our dna

the need to weave community

the need to lift one another up

the need to be a-part-of

Today I remind my self

not to be attached to the out come

To not get caught up in the North American

view of success

To remember Shadows will always be

How I face those Shadows

how I dwell within them

will determine the affect they have

Today I grieve the broken hearted

 I grieve the lost souls

Today I grieve with the ones I know

who live deep in the Shadows

Today I stand in the mire

in the ugliness of life

I don't have the answers

but I have a lantern

One I will hold high

with the knowing

that some will

see

Love and Light

to support me in my upcoming pilgrimage

please click here

yesterday I was gifted these
as I was out for my run
a gift from The Mallard Duck
An offering of Emotional Comfort and Protection...
something I so obviously I need as I do this work...
I thank Spirit for such gifts and reminders
A Reminder to drink deeply from the waters of Life
to find comfort in my element and with those 
of like mind and spirit
like you 
my lovelies.