I love this image and its message.  I see it in layers...so often people in need fade into the surroundings, we walk by them unseen.  We sit beside them in churches, walk by them sleeping on park benches or pushing strollers in the street.  We avert our eyes or turn our heads when our conscience tells us that someone is in need.

If someone is bold enough to ask for money we'll throw in a toonie and call it a day!  We can pat ourselves on the back and say to ourselves aren't we kind, non-judgemental.  Or, we'll donate our cans to the food bank during Christmas parades or public events and the food bank will have to be diligent to make sure the food isn't out of date and expired.

We'll vote during elections, yet rarely ask our candidates about low income housing, social benefits, or laws that protect children from sexual predators & abusers.

We bemoan kids roaming the streets or pity the homeless teen but rarely step out of our comfortable homes and routines to offer a hand to the organizations that struggle to stay open to help these kids.  If you can't give your time then give them your money.  When was the last time you wrote your local/provincial/federal politician to say you want change?  You want more low income housing, you want empty buildings donated to great charities that help people, you want programs in place to allow low income teens to have tutors and opportuities to continue their education beyond highschool...tell them!

Yet, I believe in change, I believe in the incredible goodness of mankind.  I believe in the people around me. We often feel stuck not knowing where to start or how to help.  We feel that one can of soup that we could donate won't make a difference.  Yet, if everyone realized that every small step forward on the path to change does cause a ripple effect.  You might be the person that starts by donating a can of soup only to later open a soup kitchen and feed the multitudes.  You might be that teacher or nurse or neighbour who sees someone hurting and reach out to them and make a difference.  You might be the letter that reaches the right politician that inspires them to take up a cause!

Believe in change!

Homeless Campers

We're on our first camping trip in Maine.  We noticed the other night three young people setting up late, they had two tents, some basic supplies but nothing extra.  Their camping spot was dark, they have no cooler and we drove by them today walking into town.

My son Jack noticed also how little they had.  Tonight is our last night here and we were going to have a fire.  Instead he asked if he could give them our firewood which he then took over to them.  I was touched by his concern for them and I went over and struck up a conversation.  I offered them my white twinkle lights so that they could see at night. I had wanted to give them the lights last night buy my husband said I was nuts!   Unfortunately, they don't have electric on their site so they are of no use.  I learned they have nothing much left to eat and they are homeless, hoping to get into somewhere in the next couple of weeks.  They have paid up for the next week but don't really know where they will get food from.

We will be helping them more in the morning, but it just makes me feel incredibly sad and no, the contrast in camping situations isn't lost on any of us tonight.

Suffering

http://www.loopkin.com/images/sadness.jpg

There is so much suffering going on in the world right now. From earthquakes in China, to cyclones in Burma, a growing food shortage that is affecting people in over 28 countries, wars, floods, Darfur, etc... What is the average person to do? I could blog about it, encourage you to give to the Red Cross or World Vision two charities I support...but in reality, talk is cheap and being a laptop do-gooder costs me nothing and makes it look like I'm actually doing something.

For those who actually work on the front lines...your in my thoughts and prayers...your really making a difference! At this time in my life, all I can offer you is my money and prayers. I'm not sure where the church is in times like this. The only message I hear from the church is disagreement on who has the "right" theology, who is cooler, hipper and more cutting edge, hippy~esque, too judgemental, not judgemental enough! Turn on the tv or blog-land and so called do gooders have their hands out wanting you to support their efforts via money to maintain their image of doing something when I truly question that they do anything!

I'm definitely dis-illusioned.

Canada, of all Countries, Has a Housing Crisis...

At the end of his visit to Canada last week, the UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing Miloon Kothari (an independent expert in an honorary position who reports annually to the UN Human Rights Council on the status of the realization of the right to adequate housing in the world), gave negative preliminary observations: “… Everywhere that I visited in Canada, I met people who are homeless and living in adequate and insecure housing conditions. I heard of hundreds who died as a direct result of Canada’s nation-wide housing crisis. In its most recent review of Canada’s compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the UN used strong language to label housing and homelessness and inadequate housing as a “national emergency”.

…Studies show that women, especially single mothers are disproportionally affected by affordability or discrimination. ... I heard some very disturbing testimonies on women whose children were taken away because they were living in inadequate housing, an issue that particularly affects Aboriginal women. … Although women leaving abusive relationships have priority for social housing (except for in the 3 Territories), a woman with maximum priority to access housing… may still wait up to 3 years to get a home. (This) pushes women to stay with a violent partner or to return to violent relationship to avoid homelessness. In view of the current situation women face throughout the country, I was surprised to receive information on significant cuts to the budget and the modification the mandate of Status Women Canada, the only Federal agency focused on women. This might contradict the legal obligation of allocating maximum available resources and the non-retrogression with respect to human right that is mandated in the ICESCR. I am concerned that some women’s organizations have been defunded for their service provision to women, research and advocacy activities.

… Canada is one of the richest countries, which makes the prevalence of this crisis is all the more striking. … Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. has had a large operating surplus – almost $1 billion this year. Canada’s successful social housing program, which created over half a million homes starting in 1973, no longer exists. Canada has one of the smallest social housing sectors among developed countries and relies almost entirely on the private market for new housing. In 2005 and 2006, the private sector created over a quarter of a million homes, but only 1 in 100 are affordable for low and moderate-income families...

- www.ohchr.org/english/issues/housing/index.htm

A Fine Balance

I am almost to the end of this 768 page heavy weight novel by Rohinton Mistry. I find myself deliberately slowing my pace reading it to make it last a bit longer! I picked this book up at a yard sale last summer along with a bunch of other great books that I chose to read before this one...probably because of the size and subject....I struggle to make time for reading because I prefer to sit and read a book quickly. But with four kids who tend to interrupt me, I end up feeling cranky so I have used it as an excuse to only read books for information versus pleasure...bad I know!

The novel is slow to unwind but you won't mind because the author weaves such a vivid picture of India's disturbed political and social climate in the mid-1970s and describes in detail the huge divide between rich and poor, the treatment of woman and children and the total disregard for the poor & handicapped. The characters are warm and loving even though they to have many of the same bias towards one another depending on their caste.

What has kept me absorbed is the characters sheer determination to live...the will to keep moving, to outsmart the evil found in a system that was corrupt and cruel...because to give up is to die. Yet, if any of us found ourselves in the situations of the main characters I wonder if we wouldn't give up?

The conditions were horrible and cruel, yet they found happiness in the simplest of things...reminding you that joy is found in the smaller details of life....not the grandiose, but the brief moments that makes your soul lurch and your heart lighten. When they had little they still gave to those less fortunate. It wasn't done out of guilt, but rather, out of compassion and humility knowing that there was others worse off than they were!

The sheer cruelty towards humanity told in this book will shock you...yet, it reminds you why our world is often the way it is. We have an incredible capacity towards cruelty, indifference, and apathy. These people were beaten down by a system that was corrupt at every level, which is then reflected in their own value system and actions. Society considered the poor dispensible, replacable, clutter, a blight on the city and country.

Yet, you will be humbled as you are reminded that within all of us is the capacity to reach out and touch people with kindness, compassion and respect. Even though values can be skewed, choices made dependent on the situation, it is more important to judge the character or intent behind the action rather than your perception or understanding of it based on your own situation or where you are in life.