photo: IndianExpress.com
In our June edition of Philanthropolicious, published by the team at More2Girls Inc., we explored the issue of child soldiers. While reading the materials submitted by our writers and involved non-profits, I was shocked and appalled to learn to what lengths power-crazed leaders will go in their lust for destruction and domination.
It is very disturbing to know that today, in numerous places on our earth, a child will be abducted, tortured physically and emotionally so that their will can be bent to commit violent acts that defy the imagination.
What is of the utmost importance to remember when we consider this horrible issue is that these young boys are not criminals, nor are they beyond hope. The worst thing we could do is to give up on them, abandon them to their fate and resign ourselves to losing them forever, thus prolonging the violence that has been forced into them against their will.
If ever you find yourself doubting that there is a scrap of humanity left in a young man who has committed such extreme acts of violence, just read Ishmael Beah's account or listen to Michel Chikwanine speak with passion about the making of a better world. You will soon see that these fine young men, once classed as monsters, are among our strongest voices calling for an end to violence, now and for all time.
Get Ishmael's book here.
Listen to Michel here.
If, after having heard their accounts, you would like to do something to help others like them, check out www.invisiblechildren.com or www.warchild.ca Whether you are young, old or somewhere in between, there are simple things you can do to assist in the rescue of boys like Ishmael and Michel.
As I and my friends have been aggregating content for upcoming editions of More2Girls interactive magazine, we keep coming across the most uplifting stories and the most wonderful individuals. It seems the more we look, the more the sea of individuals making possible change swells. May it wash over us in a great, big tide!
Here is a beautiful poem written by a man who lived on the streets but found his way home with the help of people just like you and me. It is his "Thank You".
Sometimes people hurt us. That's part of living on a planet with billions of human beings. We miscommunicate. We are often selfish. We are proud. And we have a strong instinct for self-preservation. Add to this our personal baggage and the way that affects our perception and you can easily see it's a recipe for disaster. So we must take extra care as we interface with our fellow man.
Relationships are fragile things. Whether it be with your dearest friend and confidante or with a stranger passing on the street. Most often, we hurt one another by accident. And so we display our honesty and our integrity and then everything is right again:
Honesty, to claim our error
Integrity, to do what's necessary to make things right
When we apply honesty and integrity, we smooth the way, making it easy for the other person to forgive us. A classic example is when someone bumps into us. If the person apologizes (claiming the error & making things right, simultaneously) it is easy to forgive them. No big deal.
Sometimes it's a little trickier. Generally, the more intimate the relationship, the more it costs us to say we've made a mistake; the more it costs to put things right. But it is also far more rewarding. And applying honesty and integrity in these situations can make a good relationship even stronger. Like a vase, once broken and mended. It is most resilient at the points that have been mended.
Loving your neighbour. Simple. But challenging to do.
Friday, October 31st dawned bright, sunny, and unseasonably warm. (yay!!) By the time school was out, the kids' excitement was a tangible thing as the little ones put finishing touches on costumes and the teens prepared final details for H4H. At the last minute, a couple of them felt a little shyness, but that soon wore off as they went from house to house for the the benefit of the homeless and hungry right here in Agincourt.
As we all started out and they came to the first house, they turned to me as it suddenly occurred to them, "What do we say!?" I smiled and asked, "Well, what are you doing? Who are you doing it for?" And off they went.
Here's how they did:
From the YoursMine&Ours team and the Agincourt Foodbank, a huge, heartfelt "Thank You" for your generosity toward those less fortunate!! Without you, this would not have been possible.
*note: our little team learned a couple of things through the helpful feedback of our neighbours. Next year, we'll hand out the flyers a week in advance. We'd like to see about doing something multi-lingual, too as we have many newcomers to Canada in our neighbourhood. And we may expand our team since we didn't quite make it to all the homes we had given flyers to. If you're one of those who was caught unprepared or who we missed but you'd like to donate, just leave a comment here with your house number and first word of your street name and I'll come around on Thursday between 7-8pm.
Again, THANK YOU!!
In preparation for an article I'll be writing for the soon to be launched More2Girls Magazine, I've been reading this book about one of the most beautiful women who ever graced the face of the earth. (And yes, I'm a big fan... in case you couldn't tell).
This particular biography was written by Navin Chawla, who had the honour of calling her "friend" for more than 15 years. The following is an excerpt from his book. As assistant to the Lieutenant Governor in Delhi, he had prepared a report on leprosy. Knowing that Mother Teresa had been invited to attend, there was a very large crowd gathered...
She told the audience about the work of the Missionaries of Charity in the field of leprosy, enjoining them to help in little ways. She spoke about the "leprosy of the West", people abandoned to lonely lives, whom she called the "shut-ins". She emphasized the need...to reach out to neighbours in need. She gave the example of a family of six in Calcutta which, when she chanced upon them, had not eaten for two days. The children's eyes were shining with hunger. When she brought them some rice, the family divided the portion in two, so that they could share it with a family in their neighbourhood who had also gone without food. The poor, she said, always share.
I find this particularly relevant as my teens and their friends prepare to do Hallowe'en 4 Hunger: a food-drive for their local food bank, initiated by the teens themselves. We should be proud that children we are raising can see that they have more than they need. And we should let them lead us in giving, because too many of us lose sight of just how much we have. So, what's your excuse for not sharing a can of soup, some rice or a bag of pasta? Mine all evaporate when I picture that family of six, dividing the little they've been given.
I put in one of my favourite movies last night: Chocolat. I really dig how Vianne loves people with chocolate. While the Count tries to enforce obedience to a higher moral code, Vianne simply listens to the lonely, encourages the broken-hearted and befriends the outcast.
So why is she so much more successful than the Count? What is it about her that encourages such healing and growth in the lives of those she meets? Is it the chocolate?
Despite my unquestionable enthusiasm for chocolate, I think not.
I am the somewhat zany mom of six really wonderful young people.
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