Category: Inspiration

A Good Home, Inspiration

Birthday Thoughts

Cynthia Reyes

My birthday took place on Easter Sunday this year, so I started the day with happy hymns and ringing bells.  Alleluia!

It was a lovely day.

Thanks for all the good wishes, everyone!

And huge thanks to my family and friends for loving me — yesterday and every day!

~~

It’s been said that how we live with each other and how we live with the Earth are the defining issues of our time.

I’m going to start with the Earth first.

As I start another year on Planet Earth, I know that Canada is warming twice as fast as the rest of the Earth. That’s a big concern.

Blog Photo - autumn woods trees in the valley

But my Jamaican ancestors would say: “One-one coco fill basket”. That means all our small efforts can add up to something big.

So I’m making a compact with our planet. I pledge:

To remember that living on Earth is a sacred privilege.

To be more mindful of the impact my daily decisions have on you, Earth.

To remember that I — that each of us — can help preserve and love you in our own small way.

Next: Living with Each Other

As my family and friends know, I did not take kindly to my own mobility problems, caused by a car accident.  I still get upset about it sometimes.

But as I start the next year of my life, a picture  of a girl stays in my mind:  Florence.

Florence, the Ugandan girl who became disabled at age 8, and is now able, for the first time in 4 years, to get around without crawling on the ground. 

Florence got her very own wheelchair — and the gift of mobility — because strangers donated to CanUgan — a small charity run by Canadians and Ugandans together.

If you wish to help others like Florence: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/canugan-disability-support/

Blog Photo - CanUgan - Florence 1

I’ve also spent the last few weeks supporting a fundraising drive to benefit vulnerable children, adults and pets through #GlobalSussexBabyShower — and rejoicing at every donation.

Thanks to this grassroots online initiative that honours Prince Harry and his wife Duchess Meghan, more children in South Africa now have food each day; more newborns in the US are getting clothes, diapers, food.

Blog Photo - Baby Shower - Wellchild Baby

More seriously ill children in the UK are getting expert care and more unemployed British women are getting help and clothing for their job-hunt.

More adolescent girls in India are getting sanitary pads so they can go to school when having their monthly periods; more girls in Africa are now able to attend school.

Blog Photo - Camfed donations from baby shower

The problems of the world are daunting. Poverty, oppression, racism, sexism, and other forms of bigotry loom large. As I start the next year on this beautiful planet, I will try to keep in mind:

One-one coco fill basket. Bit by bit, one by one, each of us can make a difference to another person’s life. And each of us can make a difference to the Earth. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Good Home, Inspiration

Late-Night Thoughts

Cynthia Reyes

Dear Friends: With a new book out in January of all months, I’m delinquent in both my updates and following. I read at least 10 blog posts a day, but it’s not always enough.

For now, I thought I’d share some of my late-night thoughts, written over several years.

Privileges

Stopping to acknowledge our privileges, no matter how small — and giving thanks for them — allows us to dwell in the realm of the positive instead of rushing headlong into solving the next problem, or worrying about it.

Hidden Beauty

When the leaves fall, we suddenly see all kinds of things that were hidden. One morning I woke up and looked through the window, and there was our stream, rushing and sparkling through the woods.

Memory

On many days, my near-past was a distant planet. It twinkled against the impenetrable darkness of what should have been memory.

Extremists

Extremists can be a vexation to the spirit – especially those that are one’s beloved friends or relatives.

Perhaps they are sent to test one’s patience and beliefs — including my own belief that each of us is, in some way, a representation of God. So I force myself to remember Mother Teresa’s saying: “There goes God in another of his distressing disguises.”

Of course, it’s also likely that each of us is fundamentalist/extremist in some way that just hasn’t been threatened yet.

Writing to Heal

I wrote because I could not speak. (Journal entry, later said to a radio interviewer about my difficulty thinking and speaking during the toughest years post-accident)

~~

When we write about deep pains, when we note – and perhaps even share — our moments of great insight, it releases something in us. And when we stop to count our blessings, and give thanks for them, we let joy in.

Words Have Power

It is so much easier to generalize, overlook and dismiss people than to try to understand them. But I’ve learned from hard experience that not listening, and not trying to understand, can lead to a world of unkindness, hurt and trouble.

So when someone explains why they’re hurt by what I may well have intended as an innocent statement, I listen, and try to understand.

 ~~

We learn it when we’re children: words have power. Words can comfort, uplift, enlighten, but words can also hurt, damage, devastate.

I have reached the stage in life — after much suffering and reflection — to know that being considerate in my choice of words to and about others doesn’t mean weakness. It means strength.

 ~~

My best wishes,

Cynthia.

A Good Home, Dealing with Disappointment, Inspiration

Let Down, Looking Up

Cynthia Reyes

I am dealing with a big disappointment on a project.

I have felt let down and hurt.

I should be used to disappointment, right?  For years after the car accident, every visit to doctors and therapists was full of hope, followed by the crushing realization that my hopes were unrealistic.

Some injuries don’t heal that quickly.  Some careers, some projects, even some relationships, are not recoverable. One finally learns to live with the realities, to work with or around the limitations. To set about creating a new life.

“Ancora imparo”, an elderly artist once said. (I am still learning.)  I, too, am still learning, still remembering.  That even when one puts all the plans and arrangements in place, something can still go wrong.

I’m reminded, too, that good often follows bad. In my earlier years, I yearned for certain things, was discouraged when they didn’t materialize, only to achieve something better later on. 

Not always immediately, of course. Sometimes, great effort is required.  Sometimes, there seems no end to the bad.  Life has taught me that too.  But good does eventually follow bad. If we don’t believe that, what’s the point of living? 

I believe in prayer.  I do so knowing that prayer isn’t always meant to change the heart of God, but the heart of the one who prays. So this, of course, is a time of prayer. 

I believe in the kindness of others. That the consolation provided by a small group of caring people goes a long way.

And I believe, when disappointed, that one must honestly acknowledge the emotions, acknowledge the hurt.  It does no good to lie to oneself: your heart knows the truth.

And then it is time to focus on more positive things, such as the blessings all around me.  There is so much to give thanks for.

One of those blessings is my own capacity to help others.  In my darkest times, in those bad years, I had lost sight of that.  More recently, and again in the last few weeks, I’ve been reminded that in the midst of my own disappointment, I can help others.

And so I have.  In recent weeks, I’ve helped friends. Helped a stranger too. All unasked. 

It’s not entirely altruistic, you know.  When I help others, it uplifts me.  It reminds me that I have the power and the gift to help.  In other words: it’s a present to myself.

~~

Dedicated to all who are dealing with disappointment, and searching for the faith and strength to move forward.

A Good Home, Building a School in Malawi, Inspiration, Kamala-Jean Gopie, Serendipity

Kamala-Jean’s Amazing Story – Pt. 2

Cynthia Reyes

When Kamala-Jean saw the school in Malosa for the first time, she sat in the car and started to cry.

“I said to the driver: ‘Just give me a moment, please.’ “

~~

Kamala-Jean had “no notion” that a simple conversation in a Cape Town market would cause so many things to change.

Blog Photo - Kamala-Jean Gopie wins Hubbard award

When she met Happy, he was a market vendor whose chances in life seemed very limited. Now, he’d not only returned to school at age 23; he was suddenly in charge of building one! 

While Kamala-Jean and People Bridge continued raising funds in Canada, Happy bought the building materials – bricks and sand for walls, cement for the floor, zinc for the roof, glass for the windows.  Next, he hired the workers.

Blog Photo - Kamala-Jean School being built bricks in front

The school, they expected, would attract about 40 children. Then one day Kamala-Jean got an email.

“Happy emailed me and said, ‘Mum, I registered 70 students in two days. Should I continue the registration or not?’

“Seventy! I wrote back and said ‘No more!’ Then, after I got there, he said, ‘Mum, we have 90 registrations.’ “

~~

Kamala-Jean wiped her tears and stepped from the car. It was September 18 – opening day.

Blog Photo - Kamala-Jean new school building

“Not only did I hear the children’s voices, but I saw about forty mothers with babies sitting under a mango tree; then there was a table with the head chief and two others. All were there waiting for me.”

Blog Photo - Kamala-Jean Women smile in schoolyard

Blog Photo - Kamala-Jean Happy Chiefs and Children outside school

Blog Photo - Kamala-Jean and Happy in front of children outside schoolhouse

Inside the building, all fifty chairs were filled; the other children sat on a tarpaulin on the floor. Some were barefooted.

Blog Photo - Kamala-Jean and teacher at front of class

Happy and two young women are the teachers. Everyone sang together.

Afterwards, Kamala-Jean and the teachers planned lessons and went through the teaching supplies she’d brought.

“I told Happy, ‘Let’s close the school while we plan.’

“But the next day the kids were all there. Happy explained what the parents said: ‘If there’s a school, we are going to send our children to it.’ “

Blog Photo - Kamala-Jean kneels with kids

~~

The families in the area live on subsistence farming – they grow maize and beans;  some also grow bananas, avocado and mangoes.

“People don’t starve – they grow their own food. But they have no cash.”

~~

Building the school boosted the local economy. It provided an income for many people, including local stores, builders, teachers, furniture-makers and even Happy’s mother and grandmother. Each woman is paid two dollars a week to cook maize for the children’s lunch.

blog-photo-kamala-jean-women-overseeing-lunch-in-schoolyard.jpg

The benefits don’t end there. The community has no water supply, but Kamala-Jean felt the school needed its own water, for hygiene reasons. 

Maybe they should dig a bore-hole for water? She asked Happy to investigate.

blog-photo-kamala-jean-story-latrines-outside-schoolhouse.jpg

Happy did. He told her it was cost-efficient to make water available to the community, not just the school. So the region’s main water pipes, which currently stop outside their area, are now being extended. Happy is supervising this project too.

As his mentor Kamala-Jean says, “His commitment to the community is unbelievably strong.” 

~~

As for Happy?

Chimwemwe (Happy) Musa — his full name — finally got the other results he’d been waiting for. Weeks ago, he learned he passed his exams, thereby completing high school at last. He hopes to start teachers’ college a year from now.

Blog Photo - Kamala-Jean and Happy and Family

~~

Kamala-Jean still marvels at everything that’s happened since her random meeting with Happy in that Cape Town market.

“Some people would say the stars aligned. If you believe in God, you have to think there was a purpose for my being there. This young man, by the way, has a deep belief in God. He genuinely thinks that if he does the wrong thing, God will not be happy.  He’s always trying to do the right thing.”

As Happy “does the right thing” in Malosa, Kamala-Jean continues to guide and mentor him from Toronto.  And she and People Bridge are continuing to raise funds to support the school till it can stand on its own.

Want to contribute to the Malosa School Project in Malawi?   https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/the-people-bridge-charitable-foundation/