photos by Renee Dietrich
A pathway is a clear and safe place to put your feet. A pathway leads you to a clear and safe place to rest, to eat, to hope. To find conversation, community, love.
It's felt that way this week, hasn't it? We found something we could give, something we could do.
All of us did.
Thank you to every artist who offered pieces of souls. You shared creative words and visions and stories and those intimate moments that ring like a bell as we peer behind layers of glass and click.
That's how this felt, these past days. Click. Natural and sensible and fortuitous. We posed the possibility and you all went click. Sculptors and knitters and painters and poets and teachers and mentors and mothers and fathers and friends.
We soaked up the vividness, the spark, the hospitality of all of you.
Thank you to every bidder, especially those who added exclamation points. You made us smile. You made Peter and the family at Broken Wings smile, and their American friends at Hearts with Haiti. And in turn, you made the kids of St. Joseph's smile. You came back once and twice and back again, mining for more, watching your favourites.
We loved the enthusiasm of all of you.
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photos by Renee Dietrich
As I write this, the people of St. Joseph's find their new path. They're clearing and planning and feeding and rebuilding, safe and settled in temporary shelter. Surrounding them on all fronts is loss and yet there is still friendship, and spirit. There was art here. There was music, and drumming, and dancing. There will be again.
Messages are getting through as well as hope. What do you wish for them? What made you donate? What made you bid? How did you feel when you first heard the news?
What is your hope for Haiti?
Canadians may donate directly to the St. Joseph's family through Broken Wings, here -- Americans, through Hearts with Haiti, here.