Kansas City Downtown Library Book Bindings

I came across this picture this morning while surfing.

What a clever idea!


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Ode To People Who Help The Homeless

Today, we are paying tribute to some remarkable people who tirelessly help the people who have no place to call home. As the french say "les sans abris".

On this picture we can see "President Bill Clinton joins Jon Bon Jovi, and Project H.O.M.E. co-founders Sister Mary Scullion and Joan Dawson McConnon on stage."

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THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL

THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL

A weary mother returned from the store,
Lugging groceries through the kitchen door.
Awaiting her arrival was her 8 year old son,
Anxious to relate what his younger brother had done.

"While I was out playing and Dad was on a call,
T.J. took his crayons and wrote on the wall!
It's on the new paper you just hung in the den.
I told him you'd be mad at having to do it again."

She let out a moan and furrowed her brow,
"Where is your little brother right now?"
She emptied her arms and with a purposeful stride,
She marched to his closet where he had gone to hide.

She called his full name as she entered his room.
He trembled with fear--he knew that meant doom!
For the next ten minutes, she ranted and raved
About the expensive wallpaper and how she had saved.

Lamenting all the work it would take to repair,
She condemned his actions and total lack of care.
The more she scolded, the madder she got,
Then stomped from his room, totally distraught!

She headed for the den to confirm her fears.
When she saw the wall, her eyes flooded with tears.
The message she read pierced her soul with a dart.
It said, "I love Mommy," surrounded by a heart.

Well, the wallpaper remained, just as she found it,
With an empty picture frame hung to surround it.
A reminder to her, and indeed to all,
Take time to read the handwriting on the wall.

Unknown Author


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Sustainable Prisons Project

I just found this video on Sustainable prisons while doing some surfing this morning.

I must say that I am quite impressed by this remarkable program and hope that it will be implemented in more prisons all over the world.

Maria


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On That Day Everybody Ate

A little while ago, I read a book titled "On That Day Everybody Ate",by Margaret Trost.

"Margaret is a young american woman who was in her 30s when her husband died suddenly of asthma, leaving her to raise their young son alone. In despair, seeking meaning in her life and in her husband’s death, she accepted an invitation to visit Haiti as part of a pilgrimage of reverse mission, to serve the poor as a means to transform the providers. This is a moving account of her immersion in the West's most impoverished nation. Gently and viscerally, Trost describes her experiences in a hospice and in the horrific slums of Cité Soleil. As she struggles to make sense of such extreme conditions existing so near the US, readers discover with her the healing power of reaching out. In the process, we meet and come to love the eternally optimistic and enterprising Father Jean-Just, and the wise octogenarian Manmi Dét, who teaches Margaret to work hard and also to play and to dance. And we have a front-row seat as this unlikely group of friends creates a food program for Haiti's children. In straightforward, conversational prose, with humility, candor, and love, Trost shares the story of a serendipitous flow of events that guided her on her passage from despair to hope."

After reading this book, I came to really feel the desperation in the Haitian people and resolved to raise money for the cause of "What If Foundation."