Mother to Mother

No. Scratch that. This post shouldn't be titled "Mother to Mother," but rather, "Human to Human," or "Soul to Soul."

Months and months and months ago, through a friend, I discovered a great new photography site dedicated to women. It was a whole new way of looking at my craft, within the supportive confines of a nurturing community. Don't get me wrong...I still adore my old favorite, photo.net, but ShutterSisters is different. No one cares what you're shooting, and no one argues that Nikon is better than Canon is better than Pentax. It's as much about exploring what's inside you as much as what surrounds you. So, I did what I always do...I lurked. For months. I've gotten real good at lurking. (Lurking, for those of you unfamiliar with innernet lingo, is when a visitor repeatedly goes to an interactive site but doesn't participate...she just lurks around and watches what everyone else is doing. A cyber wallflower, if you will.)

Through ShutterSisters, I discovered an amazing woman named Jen Lemen. Jen co-moderates the MondoBeyondo course I blogged about a couple months ago. She is living her life consciously and vibrantly, with every fiber of her being. She is truly an inspiration.

And now, she needs our help.

You see, Jen became friends with a woman named Odette a couple years ago. Odette came to the U.S. from Rwanda in the hopes of building a better life for herself and her two daughters. In doing this, she was forced to leave her girls behind, then 8 and 11. Trying to establish a life here and bring her daughters over has proven to be harder than expected. Enter Jen Lemen. A force of nature in and of herself. Because Odette could not go to Rwanda to visit her girls (various legal and political and immigration issues made it impossible for her to return), Jen went on her behalf. And has worked tirelessly to do the myriad of details necessary to reunite this family. There are so many ins and outs to this story...too much for me to relate here. If you want, click on over to Jen's blog and read up.

Suffice it to say, no mother should ever have to go four long years being separated from her daughters by an ocean and a sea of red tape. Grace and Lilian are now 12 and 15, and it's time to bring them home. The paperwork is finally ready, and all is set...except for funding.

Won't you please, please help bring them home? Even if you donate just $5 or $10, it could make all the difference in the world. People around our great country who have never met Jen or Odette are making donations towards this most worthy of causes. While none of us can undo what this little family has experienced in Rwanda, we can surely come together to give a brighter future. If we each give a little, tremendous things can happen.

Gandhi said, "Be the change you want to see in the world." Here's an incredibly easy way to do just that.