A message from Jackie Korey: A Global Wristband Project Supporter

Name: Jackie Korey

State: New Jersey

I’ve always been interested in helping those less fortunate than me. My parents

instilled a very good sense of remembering to never take anything for granted in

both my sister and myself. They were always participating in their own charity

efforts, so from a young age I was interested in making the world a better place. My

first real efforts into the world of giving came at church. Every Christmas, my sister

and I would pick out a family to donate gifts and holiday dinner to. My mom would

take us to Target and we would pick out snacks, games, clothes, shoes, and other

things for the family. It gave us such joy every season know that we were making

the lives of others families just a little better. When I was 7 or 8 I would hold

lemonade stands outside of my house. My mom would help me mix the lemonade,

and at the end of the summer I would donate the money to the Red Cross.

Now that I’m going off to college, I still to this day am always thinking of

ways to help the world around me. It has nothing to do with pride- it simply has to

do with me having the hardest time knowing that people out there are hurting.

Yoga has been a big part of my life, so maybe that sense of giving has stemmed from

my yoga philosophy. I feel so fortunate that I have been able to have a loving family,

great friends, an amazing education, and everything I could ever need in life. It

hurts to know that there are so many people who are suffering out there, and I fully

believe if everyone just devoted their life to helping a little bit we could someday

diminish or possibly end world suffering. The efforts of the Global Wristband

Project are appealing because they offer so many ways to help. By buying and

wearing a bracelet, you are not only supporting the artisans who created the

bracelet, but you are spreading the message by wearing it daily. It’s a chain affect,

and that’s how more people get involved. I don’t foresee my desire to help the

world ever ending, and I hope to continue to make an impact on the world through

my everyday efforts, whether it is something such as wearing a bracelet to help

Christina’s project in Haiti, or traveling abroad to work with children in need.

Everyday we wake up and have the power to change someone’s life, I believe you

can change the world with that mindset.

Earthchild Project and Off the Mat Connect

Christina Sabatini, Founder of Global Wristband Project had the opportunity to take part and contribute funds through wristband sales to this remarkable project.

http://www.health24.com/news/Natural_health/1-932,61322.asp

Sharing a part of South Africa With You

Upfront Awareness-Baphumulele Children

Posted on February 10th, 2011 in Bare Witness Humanitarian Tour 2011 by csabatini

I gained a lot of awareness today at the Baphumulele Children’s Home. This loving and stable environment aims to provide a permanent home for children who have been orphaned, abandoned, abused, or neglected. We had the honor of meeting and playing with some of these beautiful children today. Upon reflection and processing time this evening, I took a moment to look back at the day spent. I sorted out how pieces of happiness were created simply by smiling into these kid’s eyes and sharing their joy with mine.

As I reflected on the day, I thought about all of the different interactions I had with the children. More importantly, I acknowledged the test of empathy and sympathy that stood before me in each these interactions. Sympathy is a feeling of pity for the suffering of another, an impulse of sorrow for someone else’s misfortune. Quite differently, empathy shows up in our ability to understand and equally share feelings of another, free of misconceptions of any kind. I considered how I was perceiving the precious lives before me – with empathy or sympathy? Was I taking words like, neglect, poor, HIV/AIDS, sick, abused, and molding each child into my own preconceived notions? Or in the midst of everything, could I find the strength of empathy over sympathy?

Instead of creating assumptions or concluding stories, I moved beyond this and saw through the eyes of each child. Here, I discovered all of the purity and presence that existed in each of them and in each moment with them. Empathy shined and was clearly reflected throughout the experiences of the day. Instead of experiencing feelings of sorrow for the sufferings and misfortunes of their lives, I looked in the direction of happiness. It was deep in their eyes that I found it.

The unity was also there. I could hear their laughter in the echo of mine, our dance rhythms synchronized, our voices clear and understood. Today, I reveled in baking biscuits, stringing beads, and exhaling through an upside down lion’s roar in camel pose, all kid friendly and inspired by these beautiful children and their innocence. This day brought so much to the surface, providing a great reminder to reflect on our experiences in order to gain better insight of ourselves and the environment around us.

by Christina Sabatini


Christina Sabatini is a Global Seva Challenge 2010 participant.

Share Awareness of Japan's Earthquake

Please tune in. The following pictures and cover story expresses the current condition after the 8.9 earthquake hit in Japan just a few days back.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/03/japan_earthquake_aftermath.html

Final Destination, Cape Town

We began travels Saturday evening, Feb 5th. Attempting to leave Detroit on time with a snow covered runway presented our first challenge. After examining the de-ice and anti-ice machines hosing down our plane through the peephole size window, we began our route, an hour or so later than expected. Arrival time in Atlanta was 7 on the dot PM. Colleen and I took all of the energy we had to run through the airport like the Home Alone family showed us how. Our flight to Johannesburg would leave at 715pm. When we arrived at the gate, the area was vacant, with the exception of the woman behind the desk. "We were late coming in, can we still get on the flight?" As she picked up the radio to call in the plane, we heard a bell ding in the background. The woman looked to us and said, "they just rang the bell, the plane moved away from the gate, I am sorry." If you were present at the scene, you would soon be amused at the site of the women pressed up against the large glass window, urgently mouthing and signing for help to the 3 pilots in the cabin of the plane, who happen to take sight of us. Within 10 minutes, we were stuffing our bags under our seats and getting acquainted with the endless movie selection so graciously given to us for the 15 hour flight. On to Johannesburg!

Project: HAITI 2011

Global Wristband Project will be funding for HAITI relief projects in 2011. The following are three organizations that Off the Mat, Into the World's Global Seva Challenge has connected with to create sustainable projects for communities in crisis. More information will be upon us in April.

• Association of the Peasants of Fondwa (APF)
  
  • rebuilding their infrastructure, supporting the orphanage and creating jobs.
  • http://www.apfhaiti.org/index.php
    
• Camp Pinchinat (near Jacmel)
  
  • permanent housing for the community, recycling projects and income-generating ideas (fruit trees, chicken coops, etc)
    
• H20 Haiti/ LifeGivingForce Foundation
  
  • water purification systems to be installed in Fondwa and Camp Pinchinat
  • http://www.lifegivingforce.org/

New Website to Launch in February

New Website launching in February!

Hello all,

Thanks to your support, Global Wristband Project is expanding! More bracelets to wear and more awareness to spread! We support organizations across the globe already hard at work making positive change in the world.

More details and bracelets to come soon!

See you in February!