Quilters know that the
holiday season is all about GIVING...that's what we do best!
Between
our Hurricane Sandy
Quilt Relief project, and my trip to support eQuilter's charity Mission of Love in Guatemala this week,
I am appreciating the smiles and warmth that your quilts are
sharing.
Last weekend 350 of
your donated quilts were distributed to Sandy victims in New Jersey, and
this week I helped to distribute dozens of
quilts to children in Guatemala. (donated to Mission of Love by Sue Jerin and her
friends in Ohio – thanks!)
If you read my midweek Creative Nudge
newsletter, you know that I got to sit in on an entire cleft lip surgery up
close, and was looking in on cleft palate surgeries as well. Kathy Price really
wanted me to see the work that eQuilter has
supported all these years – and spending these 3 days with Mission of Love in Guatemala was
bittersweet to say the least.
On Sunday we gave a quilt to each of the
children who had come hoping for a surgery, and on Tuesday we brought quilts to
an orphanage in a mountain village. Twenty-five orphans were each wrapped in
their very own quilt, and given lots of love and hugs from our group. There were
many tears – from both the kids and the volunteer team – and I know at least a
couple people there started thinking about overseas adoption.
If you've
ever been to a developing country, and witnessed the grinding relentless poverty
experienced by people living in shantytowns and dirt-floor shacks, you have
doubtless felt the same emotions that I have: feeling very lucky to live in a
developed country, and feeling like you must do something to help the children
and elderly who are affected the most.
As I stood in a tiny one-room
"home" with a dirt floor and patched plastic-and-tin roof, and wrapped the
resident in a beautiful donated quilt, I gave thanks that I've found myself in a
job that allows me to connect wonderful generous quilters with those who are in
such desperate need. It is truly a blessing to have the opportunity to be the
intermediary…and be able to tell the story to those who
wish to listen.
I am editing down my 3000 photos to a few hundred
that I am sharing on my photo
page, so you can walk into those homes with me and see what we are doing
together. If you feel compelled to have a similar experience, go to the Mission of Love website and check out
the other mission trips scheduled for the coming year.
We also finished
distributing
the last few quilts for Colorado Fire victims this last week, and now we
will put all our energy into helping those on the East Coast who are facing a bleak holiday
season after Hurricane Sandy.
Are any of you submitting quilts to Sacred Threads
next year? I am! The submission time is coming up soon, so take a look at
their guidelines.
My sincere and humble thanks to Kathy
Price, and the team of surgeons, nurses and volunteers who help Mission of Love on this and all of
their mission trips.
Be sure to check out the 6 Guatemalan
handloomed ikats that I picked out at the market in Guatemala City. I
hand-carried them back Weds and they will be gone in a flash. YUMMY!
