RAK 71 - Donate to help buy Dahlia House

March 12

Our very first Random Act of Kindness that kicked off our year of kind acts was to create 'Truth Cards' as a family that were hand carried to the Philippines and given to women who were either rescued from, or still trapped in the horror that is Human Trafficking. (Read about our RAK One - here)

Amber's card made this post! (it is the 16th one down)

Here is Aidan's Card hanging in the Manila Safe house.

Because this issue is huge, and on-going, we remain committed to doing whatever we can to help these women.

Melody  poignantly writes about her trip in a few post on the Blog found on the Brave Girl Website...

Click here to read ~ Part 1 - Brave Girl Human Trafficking Travel Journal  - I encourage you to read her words...

In the above post Melody tries her best to put her experience into words, as she implores us to think of these women as souls...

Her identity is not a whore. Or even a rescued whore. She is not a whore.Her identity is not a prostitute. Her identity is not a former prostitute. She is not a prostitute.Her identity is not of a product to be sold. She is not a product.She is not less than. She is the same as.She is a beautiful beautiful beautiful soul. 

She goes on to say

I am angry. I am heart broken. I am confused about how this can be happening. I have nightmares and I think about it every day. I also know that I am exactly where I am supposed to be and that I will never be the same after this. I am grateful, thankful, compelled…..changed. I can not stay silent and I REFUSE TO DO NOTHING….. 

and then

I just want you to imagine the most disgusting cesspool and lake of smelly, disgusting, vile, poisonous, puke inducing sewer that you could ever imagine…just imagine it for a minute…without anything attached to it….don’t think of it as an analogy…just as what it is…
Imagine that you know where it is….you know how it smells, (it is the sewer, it is stinking, rotting garbage and filth…there are flies and rats all around it) so… you know that you just want to stay as far away as possible from it………and once you know about it…you learn to. (of course) You teach your children and friends to stay away from it…you talk about how much it stinks, how poisonous it is…how much disease it is spreading…how you must do all that you can to stay away from it…….and of course…it would be great for   it to be cleaned up….but for now….just stay away….it is so gross, so smelly, so disgusting…so dangerous, so vile….so absolutely opposite from everything good and true and beautiful and healthy…..
Ok….got that picture?
Now…imagine a girl that you love more than anything that gets thrown into it. Maybe she can swim, maybe she can’t. Maybe she even decided to jump in because someone told her that if she does it for a while, she can have the life she wants to have.
But she is in there, ok?
She is treading water, or she is drowning, but she is in there.
You see…..one of the problems with human trafficking (specifically sex trafficking) is that we turn away when we see it…..because it is disgusting….like this lake of sewer. It is dangerous, it is smelly, it is offensive. So we make our path in a way that we can avoid being near it. We orchestrate our life so that we do not have to smell it or see it. When we do approach it…..we look for a moment and then we look away. We look away before we see the souls that are in it. We only see the sewer, we only smell the smell. We only choke on the vileness that oozes off of it, making our eyes burn. We look away before we see the soul that is drowning or treading water in it.
What if it was your daughter, or your sister, or your niece? What if it was your best friend’s daughter or sister or niece?
We have got to stop thinking the girl is part of the sewer.
WE HAVE GOT TO STOP THINKING THAT THE GIRL IS PART OF THE SEWER.
THERE IS THE GIRL….AND THEN THERE IS THE SEWER.

We have got to stop looking away when we see the sewer….because she is in there. 

Meloody then wrote Part 2 of that post.

Click here to read ~ Melody with "Manila Part 2" - Lets help buy Dahlia House!

In the above post Melody Talks about the girls

She was young…..she had dreams…..at some point she started being seen as a beautiful little body instead of beautiful little soul. At some point she started being seen as a product that could bring in money….or a product to hold onto for on-demand sexual pleasure…or even just to torture. So……she was tricked. Or she was stolen. She was told that she was going to be working as a waitress or a home helper…….and it wasn’t true. She was taken somewhere where she couldn’t communicate with anyone who could help her…and even if she could have reached someone, she couldn’t have told them where she was…because she didn’t know where she was. She was threatened, put into debt, and made to feel like trash…….and then used and used and used and used and used. Each one has a different rescue story….all are incredibly brave. But each girl was a little girl who had no one making sure she was safe…no one looking out for her…..and a whole lot of powerful people using her………..

She goes on to say that the people from the organization "Wipe Every Tear" have found another location for a new Safe House that is able to accommodate MORE girls that are rescued...

She ends her post with this video...

Help buy Dahlia House...

After reading her blog posts and watching her video, I went over to the Razoo page and donated on behalf of the Kornel/Peters Family...  then went over to Facebook and encouraged all of my friends to do the same.

RAK 71 - a small part of something WAY bigger.

Sending these girls SO much Love.

Coreena

On behalf of the Kornel/Peters Family.

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Update!

With the help of some very dedicated people, and many many just wishing to help... Enough money was raised to purchase Dahlia house!!

They are still accepting donations to help with furnishings and such...

Click here to read more.

RAK 70 Happy Birthday

March 11

Ok I know most people wouldn't consider calling my father on his birthday a random act of kindness, however I have a history of missing these type of events especially for those who live away and I don't see everyday.  So today's RAK is not only a call to my dad to say happy birthday, but also a commitment to stay on top of things like this and not miss any important birthdays/ anniversaries, etc for those near or far.

Jeremy

RAK 69 - Oz the Great and Powerful

March 10

Since seeing the initial trailer for Oz - The Great and Powerful - Emma was really excited to see it...

It had become a topic of conversation for her and her friends at school during lunch and recess breaks.  She and her friends were very excited to see it.

This Sunday afternoon, we were invited as a family to go to the movie with the family of a recess chatting friend of Emma's.

Weekends are a fairly cherished commodity around here... and we usually have them planned to the minute in order to accomplish all that needs to be accomplished during it's duration.

We threw caution to the wind, and bravely agreed to start the work week without having all the laundry done, and without having the bathrooms cleaned so we could accept this invitation.

Not only did this RAK put a smile on the face of our Emma, it allowed us to spend some time and share some laughs with some pretty cool people...

Blessed.

Coreena

On Behalf of the Kornel/Peters Family

RAK 68 - I meet friends in unlikely places...

March 9 - On this day, Jeremy and I went for a 'date night' to a night club to hear some live music, and a few laughs.

We don't often attend this establishment unless Jeremy is playing, so it was really nice to have him in the crowd with me, instead of up on stage.

Partway through the night, I slipped off to the restroom, and found the line up excruciatingly long for my super full bladder.

The girl in line-up in front of me was in pretty much the same boat, and we stood there willing with all our might for the slow line up to move faster...

I glanced over at the unfairly near vacant men's room, grabbed the hand of my new friend, and together we took our - now dire - situation into our own hands.

The fellas were gracious and made way for us to quickly do what needed to be done, and exit.

We ended up chatting for an extended period of time after our initial exchange, and found that our spirits were meant to somehow come together.  She is an aspiring artist - as am I - and it would appear that we both have waged a similar battle against our lack of confidence in our work... She study's event management, and has been a part of planning some pretty important events for some of our Countries politicians... and I have been a part of planning an event for some of Canada's well known musicians...

As this days random act of Kindness, I reached out and helped someone ... ummm... in need... ;), and ended up with a new friend.

Sucess!

Relieved

Coreena

On behalf of The Kornel /Peters Family.

RAK 67 - Outing with a Friend

Mar 8

Called up a friend and invited her to go out for a couple drinks and check out a local band.  We had recently been involved with a musical project that ended abruptly, so I don't think either of us was too sure of where each other stood.  So it was great to get together and mend that fence and realize we were both on the same page.  A great night was had.

RAK 66 Going Above

March 7

I have a hard time saying 'no'.  I had to pass up an opportunity and I hate to not be involved.  As many know for the past 6+ years I have been involved in the Beaumont Blues and Roots Festival.  It is something I am very passionate about and it is a big part of who I am now and what I hope my legacy will be.  This week there was some work to be done on some documents for the festival permit, so this RAK is partly the fact that I went above what was required to put together a high quality document, but it is also the kindness my amazing wife showed in her support and assistance with not only the preparation of this but also the final packaging, binding and delivery to the powers that be.

It is pretty great having someone so amazing to share my life with, so for this and all the kindness she shows I am grateful.

Jeremy

The Books !

RAK 65 - Remembering

March 6

Today our RAK is a remembrance.  Stompin' Tom Connors was a Canadian folk music legend, and there are many in Canada who have at least one memory tied to a Stompin' Tom song.  For me it was Margo's Got the Cargo, a song that came out when I was in high school.  I had my long hair and my electric guitar and a cassette tape collection that included many AC-DC, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Led Zepplin and similar artists.  So for me to go out and buy a Stompin' Tom tape was really saying something.  After hearing Margo's Cargo on Much music I was hooked, and I bought that tape, still have it to this day.  He was the real deal, a guitar and a voice and a whole lot of life experience.  Listening to Stompin' Tom actually changed the way I thought about songs and the way I wrote songs, and my acoustic guitar starting getting a lot more play time.

Like I said I am sure most of us has a Stompin' Tom story, feel free to share yours in the comments.  In the mean time please enjoy Margo's Cargo.

http://youtu.be/UgdEJnsdOOU