Clothing Closet Joy
Recently I have taken on the mantle of co-coordinator for our clothing closet - Kids Korner - that provides clothes and winter jackets to refugee families we serve. It’s been a learning curve for sure with highs and lows as with everything in life. But it is a joy to meet such real tangible needs in the communities we work in. I love seeing the clothes we gave away on the kids running around at programs and getting to see kids playing in the pants I picked out when I go on a home visit. I even have become “the jacket lady” to some families, which is better than other monikers I suppose! One… Read more >>
Soilsigh - Let Us Illuminate
Freedom-Saoirse Saoirse Like a deer longing for water, freedom, you are far. How long should I wait to be with you freedom? Night may embrace me and moon smile down upon me But I am perceived as a black sheep out in the left field. In schools, hospitals and garda stations you are nowhere to be seen; I am dog-tired of looking for you, freedom. To express myself is forbidden; I am still frightened to further get hold of you. From Cape to Cairo, freedom you are not fully fledged. My heart locks on you but my fellows ignore you. When will you free me from this bondage? -Saoirse. This past… Read more >>Grief from Across the Ocean
It sucks I can tell you that. I will be real with you. A big part of moving overseas is leaving your family and life behind. Including, for people like me, perhaps an ailing grandfather. And it hurts to hear he is gone, to get a phone call from thousands of miles away saying what we knew was coming has come, to hear your dad on the phone almost crying and then hanging up. How do you grieve a loss you knew was coming? I am a continent, an ocean and another continent away from a man you have now missed seeing for the last time. There are stories I will never hear from him. Those two… Read more >>
Obstructed Views
My apartment has a near perfect view of the water that divides my city and then the opposite coast and skyline. The setting sun beautifully lights up the skyline; the water is ever changing, reflecting its mood of the day, sometimes a dull grey or a glorious blue. It’s an almost perfect view. There is just a roof blocking 95% of our windows. Instead of the skyline and coast we see the next-door roof, seven satellite dishes, and some pigeons. Right now that is what language study feels… Read more >>