I've never heard my grandmother's voice. Grandma Rosie, my dad's mother, had a stroke when I was little which left her unable to speak. She lived down the street from us which allowed me to visit her often. It was then, at a young age, that I learned that love does not require words.
I always felt closest to my Grandma Rosie than anyone else in my family. It seemed to be an unspoken pact between us that both of us as the black sheep of the family should stick together. Words were never necessary for us to understand the other. Our hearts were linked to intuitively know what the other needed.
When I was in elementary school she had another stoke and was moved to a convalescent center to help care for her. We visited her on Sunday's after church and it was always me she reached out to for a hug and a kiss on the cheek. It was towards the end of my time in elementary school, perhaps 5th of 6th grade, when she walked towards that bright light of heaven. My heart broke and I felt so lost without my rock. But I knew deep down that her voice had returned and she was speaking sweetly with our Heavenly Father.
I was reminded of this lesson again as an adult during my visit to India. I sponsor a lovely girl in Rishikesh so that she may have the same opportunities as the boys with her education. I was able to meet and visit with her at her school and was given permission for us to attend aarti together one night. Our English levels were not at the same level so we could speak in broken English but not carry on a long conversation.
This night was my first ever attendance of aarti and it was the most beautiful ceremony I've ever attended. Manju, my sponsored friend, would show me what to do as offerings and candles were passed around. The singing and chanting were stunning although I didn't know the words. I didn't need to know them because I could feel them. My heart was bursting at the seams with all the love and fellowship between all these strangers who accepted me right into their devotion.
Words were not necessary that night at aarti because I could feel the love, as with my grandmother. Language could have been a barrier but instead love built a bridge.
1. Gather your supplies: laser toner printed images on standard copy paper, Golden Gel Matte Medium, foam brush or paintbrush, spray bottle of water, and a canvas. Hint: Use the "mirror" option when printing to reverse the image so that it will be the correct way after the transfer.
2. Apply a liberal coat of gel medium onto canvas with foam brush.
3. Place image photo side down on canvas. Carefully smooth out air bubbles and wrinkles. Hint: I find that the image adheres better when you lightly spray water on the image before applying.
4. Allow the medium to completely dry. Hint: I waited overnight before continuing. 5. Spray the canvas with water and peel off the paper leaving the transferred image.
6. Rub the canvas to remove residual paper paying careful attention around faces. Repeat until most of the white paper has been removed and your image can clearly be seen. This will be repeated multiple times. Small bits of the image will be removed in the rubbing process but this adds to the beauty of the distressed look.
7. Once dry, add a top coat of gel medium and allow the medium to dry. Your canvas is complete unless you choose to paint your edges.
These images are from my trip to India a couple years ago: me wading in the Ganges River, Rishikesh locals entering a temple while a sacred cow relaxes in the middle of the street (this pic amuses me!), and beautiful local women in vibrant traditional dress selling treats.
In celebration of International Women’s Day, I want to celebrate YOU and all of your amazingness but I also want to go a bit deeper. I’ve been reading quite a bit lately on social change especially women’s rights. When I visited India I saw firsthand how privileged we are but I didn’t see the whole picture. Melody from Brave Girls Club had called out on Facebook recently about reading Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide (by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn) for an upcoming book club. I had just finished another book so I downloaded Half the Sky and dove in. Wow. It has opened my eyes to things I have been blinded to for so long.
Women hold up half the sky. ~Chinese Proverb
There are a number of misogynistic acts committed against women in third world countries. Crimes so unfathomable that even law enforcement officers these girls and women seek for help return them back to their abusers. Or even cause harm too. Even worse is their own families who should love and protect them are the ones causing them the most harm.
Here's a list of some of the horrific crimes against girls and women that I read about in Half the Sky that are a daily occurrence in many areas, especially remote villages:
- Manipulation and intimidation into prostitution, generally young girls
- Crimes against mother's for bearing a daughter instead of a son or against the baby for being a girl
- Girls traded, kidnapped, or coerced into a brothel who then suffer humiliation, raped, beaten, and drugged until their will is broken as is their self-esteem
- Passing on the legend that AIDS can be cured by sex with a virgin causing young girls to be kidnapped (Asia and Africa)
- Gang-raping women to humiliate them into suicide. “They don’t even need to use their weapons. Rape kills her.”
- Honor killings – a family kills one of their own generally due to suspected loss of viginity (Pakistan)
- Men who pick their future wife but doesn’t have dowry or doesn’t feel her family will accept him, he has the girl kidnapped, rapes her so that she is “ruined” and they can be forced to marry him (Ethiopia)
- Acid attacks
- Genital mutilation
- Maternal mortality – fistulas, birthing too young so hips aren’t wide enough for baby to delivery vaginally, obstructed labor, and lack of medical care during pregnancy and childbirth
- Lack of availability of medical care, family planning/birth control, and condoms to prevent HIV transmission
While sex trafficking is a known problem this isn’t all inclusive because girls aren’t always transported over vast distance or across an international border. Sometimes they're traded by middle men right within their country's borders. Slaves is a more appropriate term. Modern day slaves.
The calculation of the number of modern slaves is difficult due “in part because sex workers can’t be divided neatly into categories of those working voluntarily and those working involuntarily. Some commentators look at prostitutes and see only sex slaves; others see only entrepreneurs. But in reality there are some in each category and many other women who inhabit a gray zone between freedom and slavery.”
Given the multiple theories and studies, the biggest return on investment and greatest rewards can be reaped by investing in the education of girls. Empowering girls is the missing piece to the puzzle. When girls are uneducated, a low-caste peasant’s society tends to look the opposite direction.
Laws rarely matter in poor countries so the effort of trying to change unjust laws is not necessarily beneficial. Arrests aren't always necessary. A few changes can create enough of a ripple effect for the message to be conveyed. Changing culture, building schools, educating girls, and assisting grassroots movements are more practical.
It's possible that educating and empowering girls can also lead to disempowering terrorists.
Conclusion – Invest in girls and women!
You must be the change you wish to see in the world. ~Mahatma Gandhi
Here’s the best part of all this saddening talk – what you can do to help:
1) Support organizations like Kiva.org who help women with microfinance loans (on Day 6 & 7 of RAOK Week I shared how I support Kiva).
2) Support grassroots organizations especially those who help build schools and educate girls:
+ GlobalGiving.org - you can choose a grassroots project to support
+ American Assistance for Cambodia - fights trafficking and subsidizes school for girls
+ Apne Aap - works in remote areas that most organizations neglect, battles sex slavery in India
+ Central Asia Institute - if you’ve read Three cups of Tea then you’re familiar with this organization run by Greg Mortenson providing education in Pakistan and Afghanistan
+ A listing of reputable aid groups are available here
P.S.
I’m sure most of you heard about Kony 2012 since it's been on every social media outlet the last few days. While not a women’s issue per say, it’s still a cause that can’t be ignored. Visit Invisible Children to learn more on stopping Joseph Kony and LRA’s forced boy soldiers.
1) There’s so many ways to help but you MUST watch the video first.
4) Cover the Night on April 20th at sundown (see video for more info).
I first learned about Kony 2012 from Kind Over Matter. Love Infinitely has a great write-up for you to better understand this mission and ways to help.
Welcome to Day 3 of Random Acts of Kindness Week! Day 1 and Day 2.
Today I want to tell you about an organization that is near and dear to my heart. I briefly mentioned the Mother Miracle School in a previous post; Yoga, India, and Unfolding Creatively. In November of 2010, I embarked on a trip of a lifetime to India, a place I had dreamed of visiting for as long as I could remember. While in Rishikesh, a sacred town located about five hours north of Delhi, I was able to visit Mother Miracle and meet with the precious students that attend the school.
A few months before my trip I had started sponsoring, or being "friends" as the school likes to say, a gorgeous little girl around my son's age at Mother Miracle. I was introduced to the school after the group lead for the trip (it was a yoga retreat) had shared with us the wonderful work Mother Miracle does for their community and informed us that we would have an opportunity to visit and meet our sponsored child while in Rishikesh. Manju is the beautiful and bright girl that I sponsor and was able to meet and spend some time with.
One of the things that our group lead mentioned before the trip, something that never would have occurred to me, was to bring a Polaroid camera if you can get your hands on one. He shared that most of the children have never held a picture of themselves before. What? I looked around my home at all the pictures I have up of family and friends, including myself, but these kids don't have the same "luxury?" Before I departed I was able to purchase a camera and film from Amazon and that was the best decision I ever made!
I was like a celebrity to the excited kids as they lined up to have their picture taken and then get to walk away with the picture that magically develops moments later. A picture of themselves. I enjoyed that time so much and was saddened when the extra film eventually came to an end. Later, the group lead asked me with a knowing smirk, "So tell me, who do you think enjoyed that more, you or the kids?" As much as the kids were thrilled, my heart runneth over with more happiness than I knew what to do with. That time ranks in the top three happiest moments of my life.
If you would like to learn more about Mother Miracle and their work with underprivileged children, community development programs, or to sponsor a child please visit their website.
This was originally a guest post on Living Life Photographically back in June and since Jodi no longer uses that blog (now Creative Life By Design) I thought I would post it here. This post is referring to a November 2010 trip. Have a wonderful evening!
In November, I was blessed with the opportunity to mark my #1 item off my bucket list - to travel to India. I had dreamed of that journey for so long and was so grateful to make it happen. I set off to Delhi, and then on to Rishikesh, with a group of yogi’s whom I met for the first time when I arrived in Delhi.
I was in much need of a spiritual journey and awakening after recently finalizing a divorce. I had intentions of focusing on me, on my yoga, and exploring a foreign land. I had expectations of spiritual transformation and soul searching from this journey.
Halfway through the two week trip, I came down with some sort of flu and was bedridden for several days. This put a damper on my plans of packing as many sites and experiences in the days as humanly possible.
I thoroughly enjoyed my trip but was thankful to return to my home sweet home. While journaling one night, I wrote about how I felt slighted because I didn’t experience this magical transformation that I expected to take place. I didn’t understand because I went to all these amazing sites, practiced yoga twice a day, and met the most amazing people. How could it be that something remarkable didn’t take place inside me?
As I poured my heart and soul into my journal that night discussing how upset I was with my body for breaking down and allowing sickness to enter, I realized that maybe it was a sign. A sign to slow down, to stop trying to force something to happen, and JUST BE.
It brought me back to a night we went to aarti (Hindu worship) in which my sponsor child (friend) from The Mother Miracle School accompanied me. Manju and I held hands, sang, and clapped through aarti even with our slight language barrier. That didn’t matter. She showed me pure love and an open heart that the oceans that geographically separate us couldn’t stop. I was completely in the moment with her that night.
I was right where I needed to be.
We spend so much time worrying about anything we can worry about that we miss something so obvious that's right in front of us. Although I’m thankful for the trip, I didn’t need to travel around the world to “find myself” because I’m right here X. Everything I need is right inside of me no matter where I am. It’s inside of you too!
