Reach for Help

Friends -

Reach for Help is intended to reflect on the Haiti disaster, disaster response, and how in spite of the many resources that began to pour into this country, it remained difficult to get it to many of those that needed it so badly. That still seems to be the case. I started this gourd a couple of weeks ago -- shortly after the earthquake in Haiti -- but have not been home enough to finish it timely. Nonetheless, now it is done.

I almost gave up on this gourd. When I first began to clean and shape it, I hit a faulty part on the gourd and it gave a sharp snapping sound and cracked in three places. And it seemed to be such a sturdy gourd! Any other time I would have given up and tossed it aside to start another, but I could not shake the thought that the fracturing seemed a bit symbolic. As much as people in Haiti must not give up on their fractured world, it would have been wrong to toss this one away and move on to another task. So I reinforced and patched, and hoped that it would make it through the rest of the stress needed to build the gourd -- burning, painting, heating, etc. It did. And I hope for so much more for the people of Haiti.

Reach for Help is available for a donation to a worthwhile cause of your choice, although it would seem that a check to 'Doctor's Without Borders' is appropriate under the circumstances.

margie lopez read

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