HALO Trust brings hope and healing

I just happened upon some haunting  photographs about the aftermath of war. The pictures are the work of Fiona Willoughby and they document the important work of HALO Trust, a NGO that dedicates itself to getting rid of landmines around the globe. Even though this exhibit is focused on landmines and those whose lives have been affected by them, it is both hopeful and inspirational. It shows not only the heroic work of those who risk their own safety to get rid of landmines, but also those who have been injured by landmines, or forced from their homes due to the risk of  landmines and unexploded ordances.

The new exhibition Getting Landmines Out of the Ground, For Good is being hosted by the World Affairs Council of Northern California. You can stop by their office at 312 Sutter Street in San Francisco to see the exhibit for free any time during their office hours. I just walked in off the street this morning.

If you want to hear the photographer and her husband, Guy Willoughby (founder of HALO Trust) speak, you can attend the reception from 6:00 to 8:00 pm, tomorrow night (April 3) Tickets are $15 for the general public and $5 for students.  You can get tickets online at www.worldaffairs.org

In case, like me, you have never heard of the HALO Trust, here are some pretty impressive stats about the work they have done in the 25 years since their founding:

• Over 1.4 million landmines destroyed
• Over 11 million items of larger calibre ordnance destroyed
• Over 208,000 cluster munitions destroyed
• Over 53 million bullets destroyed
• Over 3,400 heavy weapon systems immobilized
• Over 165,000 assault rifles destroyed
• Over 10,423 minefields cleared
• 33,460 hectares (82,682 acres) made safe from landmines
• 144,616 hectares (357,353 acres) made safe from unexploded and abandoned ordnance
• 14,491 kilometres (9,004 miles) of roads cleared
• http://www.halotrust.org/

Finding out about this organization makes me reaffirm my belief that even in the worst of situations there is always hope. As I looked at the very moving photographs I was reminded of two quotes from Anne Frank's diary:

“It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”  (This brought tears to my eyes the very first time I read it, back in 6th grade, and it has every time I have thought about it since then. To have such faith in the goodness of humanity in her circumstances is so incredible to me.)

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”  (These words have often reminded me that we can always try to make things better, whether in big ways or small, it is never the wrong time to help make the world a better place.)

I feel fortunate to have stumbled upon this exhibition and to be reminded that there are many people who dedicate their lives to healing both the people and the land in countries devastated by war.

A shopping cart full of good news!

Thanks go out to Roberta Hyde for sending me another good news story! This one appeared in TBO.com Tampa Tribune

Published: August 14, 2013

BRANDON – On Aug. 4, in the middle of Staples at Regency Square, Rodney Burton heard God speak to him. “He said, ‘There’s someone here you need to do something for,’” said Burton. “I felt like He was talking about a teacher.” Burton lives in Valrico and attends The Crossing Church. “It’s a respect thing. They give so much, every day,” he said. “They should be the highest-paid people out there. They inspire kids, transform parents and change lives for good, never knowing the impact one conversation might have. Why not give back to the people who give so much?” He looked around and thought, there’s got to be a teacher in here, but how do I find one? When Burton and his wife, Audra, got in line at the register, “this lady in front of me had so much stuff in her basket; I thought she’s got to be a teacher.” The woman was Brandon-resident Sharon Leto, a science teacher for Hillsborough High School’s International Baccalaureate program. “The most wonderful thing happened,” she said. “While I waited in line, the man behind me asked if I was a school teacher. When I said yes, he said, ‘Today is your lucky day! I’m going to pay for everything in your cart.’ “My cart was full, but he didn’t seem to care,” said Leto. “He said, ‘We don’t do enough for our teachers,’ and he just wanted to pay it forward. …I was speechless and moved to tears, right there in the checkout line.” Burton, a personal trainer and award-winning bodybuilder, said it seemed like the right thing to do. He owns Results Health and Nutrition, 626 Oakfield Drive, where he tries to give hope to people who’ve lost hope “and transform people who never feel like they’re good enough,” he said. “Life gets easier and a whole lot simpler when you feel good about yourself.” Burton’s action amazed Leto, who has taught 26 years in Hillsborough County. She admitted she grumbles from time to time about funding cuts and morale-busting mandates.

Having been a teacher for years and working in the field of education after leaving the classroom, I feel a huge sense of gratitude to Rodney Burton. His respect for all that teachers do and his desire to show that respect by paying for the cart load of supplies warms my heart.  Maybe because of this act of kindness more people will come to realize how much of their own money teachers put into supplies for their classroom and for their students.

Kudos to Sharon Leto for filling up the cart in the first place. She had no way of knowing that someone else would pay for it. She was probably just doing what she always does -thinking about what her students will need to learn and succeed.

Click on the link below to see a picture of Leto and Burton.

http://tbo.com/brandon/hillsborough-high-teacher-surprised-when-valrico-man-x201cpays-it-forwardx201d-20130814/#media-well-container

Some good news for the day!

From Beth Ramos  http://celebration34747cares.com/about-us  Local residents making sure children do not go hungry. Of course, it seems that in a country as rich in food and resources as the U.S, child hunger should not even be a problem. But it is. These people are doing something about that. Kudos to them and thanks to Beth for sharing!

Okay, then, I'll do it myself if I have to!

Soooo, dear readers, I made a request at the end of my blog on August 1.(http://whataheartcanhold.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/a-year-of-good-news/ I asked everyone to post a reply that contained some good news, or to tweet some, or to email some, or to post some on Facebook.  Sad to say, only two people replied with good news.  Now, for all I know everyone else has been tweeting and emailing good news like crazy.

I hope so, because even though I am very much a realist, I think learning about good things helps us to feel empowered to do more good to and for each other. I believe that good news lets us know that we can find solutions to complex problems, overcome adversity of all sorts, and be kinder to everyone we meet. We can live with less fear and more love.

Since that blog post did not get much of a response, I am going to post some more good news myself:

In the Really Massive Good News" category:   Mercy Ships!!  Really, if you don't know about these, check them out! They will give you renewed faith in humanity. https://www.mercyships.org/about-mercy-ships/     Their website says: "A dream that began 35 years ago in a young man’s heart has become reality—a big, white, state-of-the-art hospital ship that delivers hope and healing to people around the globe living in dire circumstances."  

Not only are doctors and nurses giving free, state-of-the-art medical care to the poorest of the poor, but also, they have to pay their own way to do it. I have to admit, that level of generosity astounds me. Again, from their website: 

Volunteers with Mercy Ships are responsible for paying all costs associated with their service, including crew fees, travel expenses, passports, immunizations, insurance and personal expenses.  Because of this commitment, Mercy Ships is able to use direct contributions from its supporters to bring hope and healing to the poorest of the poor.

Crew members typically pay for their service by raising support from family, friends and churches or by saving money for their time onboard. A financial-health service for crew members – Financial Accountability, Coaching and Encouragement (FinACE) – helps volunteers develop a budget, determine the best ways to fund their service, and provide support raising tools, including a personal support raising web page.

Think about it! It humbles me to know that there are such generous, compassionate, loving people traveling around the goal to ease the pain and suffering of people they don't know. You may have seen the story of the Africa Mercy Ship on 60 Minutes recently. If not, it is definitely worth finding and watching.  http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57596889/africa-mercy-hospital-of-hope/

And wait, just one more thing, a little note from CBS: Since "Africa Mercy" first aired, a $20 million donation toward a new ship was made by philanthropists Sue and Bill Gross.

 In the Hope for the Future category:  I attended a workshop sponsored by 350 Massachusetts  (of 350.org fame) and A Better Future Project. Everyone who attended was there because of their concern about the environment. This was a group of people who not only care, but also, who actually want to do something about it. There were about 20 people in attendance. Some people traveled a couple of hours to get to the meeting!

One of the things that I really loved about it, but more importantly, that gave me the most hope was the make-up of the group. Male and female, older and younger, native-born Americans and non-native born, including a man in a wheelchair who came with his aide. I will continue to be part of this group and I expect everyone who attended will do the same. 

And another in this category:  City Growers used Kickstarter.com  to fund a campaign for urban farms. Their goal was $15,000 and people pledged donations of $29,305! This is how the money will be used -  City Growers is producing green jobs by creating nutrient-dense food farms on vacant lots throughout Boston's urban neighborhoods.  You can check this program out at  http://www.cityofboston.gov/news/default.aspx?id=6264

I'm sure you have some good news. Please share it here or tweet to @CallMeEarth Girl.  Let's spread good news, create optimism and do some good!

A Year of Good News

I listen to the news. A lot. I do it by choice, even though it often stresses me out. To me, it seems that the news reporting concentrates on what is wrong. Maybe the fact that I perceive it that way says more about me than it does about the news reports. But I don't think so. We hear about the countries that are in conflict with each other. We hear about the countries that have inner conflict. We hear about the inability of our own government to solve problems. We hear about how polarized liberals and conservatives are. We hear about people all over the world who want to harm us in some way. We hear about the various parts of the world that we think we need to harm before they get the chance to harm us. We hear about crimes of all sorts. We hear about the increasing rate of infections that are contracted during hospitalizations. We hear about the dangers of serious disease from ticks, mosquitoes and amoeba lurking in lakes and ponds. We hear about weather disasters.  We hear about the failure of our schools. We hear about the crumbling of our infrastructure. I could go on, but you get the point.

Am I saying that we don't need to know these things? Not exactly.  I am saying that we need balance. We need to hear at least as much good news as bad news. We need to understand that the good news is not the exception.

Am I over-simplifying? Yes, of course. For the sake of brevity, I have eliminated any sort of complexity.  But if you google the term "ratio of bad news to good" you will find that most analysts agree that the overwhelming majority of the news reported by mainstream media is negative.

Sure, there are feature stories about someone who has overcome a tribulation of some sort. They are interesting to us because we perceive them to be an exception. But mostly we hear about people and situations that make us fearful or angry. And, predictably, we make choices based on this fear and anger.

But what if we are making those choices based on a false premise? What if most countries are not in conflict? What if most people have not been victims of crimes? What if, in fact, there is more good news than bad?

What if the stories we read in newspapers and heard on the radio and TV were stories about the thousands upon thousands of times a day when something good happens somewhere in the world?

Right about now, you might be thinking, "But that is not news, that is just regular life."  Exactly my point. The good things that always happen are not considered to be newsworthy.

I would like to try a worldwide experiment in which mostly good news would be reported for a whole year. I wonder how different our perception of the world would be. How different would our perception of each other be? How different would our perception of ourselves be?

Would we find that there is less to fear and more to celebrate, less to be angry about and more to be grateful for? Would we be less stressful? Would we feel that we are more able to solve the problems that do exist? Would we think that far-out, wildly unrealistic ideas like world peace and ending hunger were possible?

I don't know the answer to this. But I would like to find out.

Let's start our own experiment. Please post one piece of good news as a comment after reading this.

Then, for the rest of the year, blog, tweet, tumble, instant message, text, or email some good news every day. Sure, all the bad news will still be out there, but we can flood cyberspace with lots of good news too!

Here's one to get us started. I left my change purse containing $75 in cash on the counter in a convenience store one afternoon not too long ago. The purse had no identification in it.  I didn't realize I had left it until about 10 p.m.  I was pretty sure that I would never see it again. But I went back to the store to see if it was there. The young man behind the counter said, "We were hoping the owner would realize she left it here." He handed it back to me. I thanked him and drove home. All of the money was still in the purse. I have to admit, I was surprised. It would have been so easy for the clerk or another customer to take the purse and the money. But, most people are honest. Good news!

One last idea, you might even be able to BE the Good News in someone else's report.