The road ends, but the journey continues...

Tag: Peace Post (Page 1 of 4)

Giving Voice: A USAID-funded researcher’s perspective on 2025 changes-pt1

Notice the byline on this post? Yes, the ‘USAID-funded researcher’ is none other than our middle daughter, Michelle. And yes, she is one whose voice was silenced on 1/20/2025. A few weeks ago, Michelle asked if she could share her perspective with my readers.
It was time.

PART 1: War and Life

The room was small.

Not much more than a cinderblock room with some chipped paint. There was a small bed that looked more like a massage table, some buckets in the corner, some posters on the wall, and some equipment on another table. No electricity. No running water. There were two windows, positioned across from each other to provide a good cross-breeze, covered in light fabric curtains. The windows had no other covers – no glass, no screens. They were nothing more than intentional holes in the wall. 

Birthing Room 4b
“The room was small…this room, in fact, was a birthing room.”

The window style is not unusual in Africa, in fact it is very common in schools, so normally it would not strike me as noteworthy. But this was at a health clinic. This room, in fact, was a birthing room. One of four in the clinic’s maternity ward.

I was there to check on the equipment, among other things, as part of a monitoring mission in the middle of an active conflict zone in Ituri province, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

This was for the non-governmental organization (NGO) I worked at that had helped build the clinic, train the doctors and staff, and provide medical supplies. I noted that the supplies were indeed received and were being properly sterilized and stored. I had long conversations with the clinic staff about proper procedures, safety, sanitation, privacy, and other topics.

I secretly thought to myself that I would never want to give birth in this room, for, while it was clean and sterile, it looked uncomfortable, and the window setup would make me self-conscious. Could there be any privacy? What about dust getting in? 

l-r: photographer for the NGO’s communications team; sorting through equipment with clinic worker (shown); member of the NGO’s monitoring & evaluation team

Then the clinic director took me to the postnatal ward, to show me the beds where new mothers recovered under new mosquito nets. In the row of beds, there was one new mother – she arrived last night. Would I want to speak with her, the director asked?

Before I could answer, this woman began to thank me, telling me how this clinic saved her child and her from death. Without this clinic, she shared, she would have given birth in “the bush”, outside, while fleeing from militia and soldiers.

Who knows if she and her child would have survived.

Outhouses DRCb

I was wrong about the birthing room; it was luxurious indeed.

I have engaged with many people in challenging circumstances in my life as a researcher in international development and humanitarian assistance. I’ve met and played with many children, talked with many parents, had engaging conversations with teachers and administrators, given presentations to government officials, even held court with a king, in countries such as DRC, Côte d’Ivoire, Lebanon, Uganda, and others. This woman is one of many who live in my mind. But she is the one I think of the most. 

I thought of her when the President signed the executive order to “review foreign assistance” on inauguration day. I thought of her again three days later, when the Secretary of State and the acting USAID Administrator decided that the executive order was not strong enough and issued “stop work orders” for all projects. And she is the one I have thought about every day since. To me, she symbolizes the vulnerable who will pay the price for any mistakes and errors that the powerful make in their careless, hasty efforts to pursue their agenda.


Next – Part 2: Chaos and Destruction


All photos: Michelle L. Solorio

Header photo: USAID presence in DRC with non-governmental organization (NGO) affiliate logo scrubbed for privacy reasons

Peace Post: Silence – E. Kagge

excerpt from: ‘Silence In the Age of Noise’ by Erling Kagge
translated by Becky L. Cook

6.

“Silence can be boring. Everyone has experienced the ways in which silence can come across as exclusive, uncomfortable and at times even scary. At other times, it is a sign of loneliness. Or sorrow. The silence that follows is heavy.

However, silence can also be a friend. A comfort and a source of deeper riches.

Shutting out the world is not about turning your back on your surroundings, but rather the opposite: it is seeing the world a bit more clearly, staying a course and trying to love your life.

Silence in itself is rich. It is exclusive and luxurious. A key to unlock new ways of thinking. I don’t regard it as a renunciation or something spiritual, but rather a practical resource for living a richer life. Or, to put it in more ordinary terms, as a deeper form of experiencing life than just turning on the TV to watch the news, again. “

Peace Post: PurplePoem

PurplePoem
Laura Bruno Lilly c2022

I am the power of purple.

Majesty clothed in peace.

Within the folds
                             my robe holds

Sprigs of springtime blossoms
                                                      harbingers of hope.

photo by LA

Peace Post: A Poem Shared

– A coincidental gift received during National Poetry Month –
As natural as breathing, sharing works of (he)art is part of my everyday.

A few days after my last post was pubbed, a longtime friend noticed the ‘tree painting’ on the shelf beside Gracie. This prompted her to share a reading by Amanda Palmer of the following poem by Mary Oliver. She’s been listening to every day.

I get it. Poetry is a life line.

WHEN I AM AMONG THE TREES
by Mary Oliver

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.
Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.
And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”

Devotions: The Selected Poetry of Mary Oliver

If preferred: click here for direct link to Amanda’s reading on Soundcloud

2021 International Day of Peace

The International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by the United Nations General Assembly. Two decades later, in 2001, the General Assembly unanimously voted to designate the Day as a period of non-violence and cease-fire.

2021 Theme: Recovering better for an equitable and sustainable world

Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September. The UN General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, through observing 24 hours of non-violence and cease-fire.

In 2021, as we heal from the COVID-19 pandemic, we are inspired to think creatively and collectively about how to help everyone recover better, how to build resilience, and how to transform our world into one that is more equal, more just, equitable, inclusive, sustainable, and healthier.

The pandemic is known for hitting the underprivileged and marginalized groups the hardest. By April 2021, over 687 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered globally, but over 100 countries have not received a single dose. People caught in conflict are especially vulnerable in terms of lack of access to healthcare.

In line with the Secretary-General’s appeal for a global ceasefire last March, in February 2021 the Security Council unanimously passed a resolution calling for Member States to support a “sustained humanitarian pause” to local conflicts. The global ceasefire must continue to be honoured, to ensure people caught in conflict have access to lifesaving vaccinations and treatments.

The pandemic has been accompanied by a surge in stigma, discrimination, and hatred, which only cost more lives instead of saving them: the virus attacks all without caring about where we are from or what we believe in. Confronting this common enemy of humankind, we must be reminded that we are not each other’s enemy. To be able to recover from the devastation of the pandemic, we must make peace with one another.

And we must make peace with nature. Despite the travel restrictions and economic shutdowns, climate change is not on pause. What we need is a green and sustainable global economy that produces jobs, reduces emissions, and builds resilience to climate impacts.

The 2021 theme for the International Day of Peace is “Recovering better for an equitable and sustainable world”. We invite you to join the efforts of the United Nations family as we focus on recovering better for a more equitable and peaceful world. Celebrate peace by standing up against acts of hate online and offline, and by spreading compassion, kindness, and hope in the face of the pandemic, and as we recover.”

I was in High School in Boulder, Colorado when this song was first released – I’m still on that Peace Train!

“Everyone jump upon the Peace Train” – let’s make this world a better place.
Happy International Day of Peace. One Love!!!

playing for change

Credits from Playing for Change: “Peace Train” – Yusuf / Cat Stevens’ timeless anthem of hope and unity – was originally released on the classic album ‘Teaser and the Firecat’ in 1971 and was Stevens’ first US Top 10 hit, reaching number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. This Song Around The World version features more than 25 musicians from 12 countries and unites Yusuf / Cat Stevens, singing and playing a beautiful white piano in a tranquil open air setting in Istanbul, Turkey, with musicians such as five time Grammy Award winning blues/americana artist Keb’ Mo’; Grammy nominated Senegalese artist Baaba Maal; Silkroad’s Rhiannon Giddens—also a Grammy Award winner; Ghassan Birumi playing the oud in Ramallah, Palestine; musicians from the Silkroad Ensemble in Rhinebeck, New York; Pat Simmons (The Doobie Brothers) and James “Hutch” Hutchinson (bass player with Bonnie Raitt) performing in Maui, Hawaii; and bringing together conflict regions with Tushar Lall playing the harmonium in Delhi, India, and Joshua Amjad playing the Kartaal in Karachi, Pakistan.

Gems from Jackson

a brief catch-up note: As I’m tying up loose ends on some musician stuff, dabbling in finishing some scrappy quilt UFOs and working on business tasks as hubby directs – my modus operandi is strictly in Summer Mode. To be more specific – Languid, Southern, Slow&Low Summer Mode.

I’ve kept up with most of the blogs I follow, correspond with a few buds via email but as for posting anything myself – meh.

Until now! HA!

A blogger I follow has been posting photos of her surroundings using a new camera. In her post a few days ago, I thought I recognized the place in which they were taken.  Besides the literal mural of a touristy postcard, my suspicions were confirmed when another photo of an art mural created on the sides of a downtown building appeared within this single post.

I remembered this place, this tiny rust-belt town in rural Michigan from just a single visit and a single positive impression made from that visit last year.

Michelle Lilly Solorio, PhD 2020

Late in September of 2020, hubby and I took a jaunt up to Michigan to visit our middle daughter and son-in-law. At the time, there was a narrow window of reduced regional COVID-19 surges so we decided it was a reasonable risk worth pursuing. (Please click here to read the fun, exciting details of our delayed Family celebration and in-house acting out of Michelle’s PhD Hooding ceremony that was cancelled earlier that month due to COVID).

One of our Family outings included ‘a Sunday Drive’ as it was noted in my Family travels MMXX post. We meandered the back roads from their home in Lansing to destination: Jackson. Streets empty of humans due to COVID closures made for an eerie but delightful walking tour of this place – filled with artistic surprises around every corner. Literally.  

Thank you, Pat, for continuing to explore your new camera and photography skills roaming the streets and snapping photos of the murals on the buildings in Jackson, Michigan. It’s heartening to see that Jackson is keeping true to its rusty rooted artistic flow.

Giving Voice: people, don't stop tryin' to make a difference.


This link goes to a short excerpt of an NBC interview (it’s only 2 minutes, please click and ponder) with Dr. Martin Luther King in 1967…still strikingly relevant to these times…(full interview here).

Quote symbol“White America must see that no other ethnic group has been a slave on American soil. That is one thing that other immigrant groups haven’t had to face…America freed the slaves in 1883 through the Emancipation Proclamation of Abraham Lincoln, but gave the slaves no land or nothing in reality…to get started on. At the same time, America was giving away millions of acres of free land in the West and Midwest. Which meant there was a willingness to give the white peasants from Europe an economic base. And yet it refused to give its black peasants from Africa – who came here involuntarily and in chains, and had worked for free here in chains for 244 years – any kind of economic base…”
Dr. Martin Luther King

“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”
John 8: 32

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