Tis the season that people not only talk about giving, but actually give with more frequency. There is something about the holidays and this time of the year. Maybe it is the illumination surrounding us that inspires a brightness within. Maybe the cold weather forces us to engage in more activities that warm the heart, soul, and spirit. Maybe, it is the simple expectation of gifting throughout the holidays that brings attentiveness to the power of giving. Truly, this atmosphere is powerful. People that refrained from charity throughout the year, feel compelled to and do engage in charitable giving. People stop at the chime of a Salvation Army bell, or the sight of a person that is homeless on the street, or a number of different things and share what they have to give.
People give in other ways this holiday season too. There’s a tendency to just reach out and connect more with others. Holiday cards are sent as a way to say “I am thinking of you and yours”. Gifts are bought thoughtfully, with the intent of pleasing the receiver. Parties are thrown to celebrate love, closeness, life, and the act of gifting. Food is prepared before and during the holidays so as to invite gathering. I know in my family, my mom and my Zia (aunt) in America, and also relatives now living in Piemonte, Italy, spend hours baking Grispelle or Turdilli, classic Christmas treats from Calabria. Italians will then sit around the treats, eat, speak with words/gestures, and sip on both the wonderful aroma and taste of espresso. This time of the year, I typically give my culture to my students too, by baking them either traditional Tiramisu if I can find lady fingers. Or in the case of this year making them Tiramisu Torte, an American version of the Italian classic. Even the of act cleaning, at least for me, adds to giving by beautifying the surroundings. Dishes are washed methodically, chairs and furniture are moved so no spot is missed when cleaning the floor, every corner is dusted, and tables are set in an intentionally luminous manner. We give to each other through cooking, baking, eating, talking, and other ways during these holiday gatherings. When you think about the holidays and the shift that occurs in how we treat one another, it is quite breath-taking. Originally I was going to write the stats about how many people world-wide live in poverty or how many people are diagnosed with mental illness or so many other things. I will save those stats for their corresponding blogs that will be written in the future. What I will say is this….there are so many ways to give and this giving can last year round. There is magic, a glimmer like fresh snow, when people connect through giving. This giving can be as a simple as telling a youth at-risk (typically who I serve as a therapist and researcher), “I believe in you” and “It’s not your fault, it’s the system”. One can give, by sitting and just listening to a person that is elderly, letting them know their story is worthwhile. A gift can be assuring someone that everyone, ever single last one of us, needs help at times. Telling someone that it is okay to identify as LGBTQ, accepting them that way, and maybe even reminding them that it was a common practice during Greek Civilization, which dictated the formulation of today's civilized society, can be a gift. Another way to give is by offering a hug or some space to somebody diagnosed with a mental illness, depending on what they need. Also letting people know it is okay to have a mental illness and informing them that Winston Churchill, the man who stopped the Nazis, had bipolar. Or reminding people diagnosed with autism that being different is courageous and then rolling with their differences. Welcoming people from other countries and asking them to share their culture is both a gift to the immigrant and the native. Or saying aloud, I think racism, discrimination, and sexism is wrong, I am sorry you experienced those realities; then not engaging in those forms of interactions. All these are gifts and really this list can go on forever. So what do I gift to all of you, first is this blog although I should be at a friend’s working on my dissertation. I also gift finishing my dissertation in 2016 to illicit awareness about the impact of poverty on minority youth living in Athens, and how this negatively affects their education through a failing public school system. I also gift a dedication to try to pry open my heart; this heart-opening in the past was only reserved for family, choice friends, mentors, the clients I am honored to serve, and the students I am honored to teach. I will remember to carry around dollar bills so that I can give to someone in need, instead of just giving them blessings because I don’t have cash or change. I also gift meeting hostility and oppression with grace, kindness, and education. I commit to striving to never lose my Italian temper again even when confronted by blatant social injustice. Dr. Martin Luther King was so wise in saying “Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that”. I commit to live by that saying. I will continue doing all that I can do with every inch of me to embody the social work values in everything I do: 1) service, 2) social justice, 3) dignity and worth of individuals, 4) importance of human relationships, 5) integrity, and 6) competence. I will continue to work hard as a social worker therapist, educator, researcher, and writer to emphasize strengths; while also challenging inequality and injustice. I will keep giving through praise, aide, compassion, empathy, and caring all year round. What will you do? In closing, I send all of you well wishes today, throughout the holidays, and the New Year.
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I woke up to this song, “Break the Cycle” by You and Me and the following lyrics inspired me to write this blog in the middle of the night. I quote, “Tell me the words you long to hear and I’ll sing them loud and clear. Let me heal the wounds you’ve held on to all these years. Break the cycle, break the chain, because love is louder than all of your pain”. I envisioned my arms literally stretching around the world, hugging it, to send all of my love, energy, and light to those that are suffering. Frequently, I pray, that those around the world, hurting in whatever way, feel relief. Usually I imagine the relief to manifest as something typically considered minute to most, like a sunset or a flower. Sometimes I pray that relief take the form as a reason to laugh or smile; anything to forget the turmoil even for a moment. These people that are suffering have many different faces in my mind….children starving, women being kidnapped and sold into the sex slave market, Syria, the world’s homeless, people that are sick in any way. The list goes on. I pray for all of them to my all-encompassing universal God-head that simply speaks most clearly to me through Catholicism as an Italian. I pray for everyone encountering pain. I pray that they experience moments of relief because I am wise enough to know that suffering is not always in our control, and even when it is in our control, letting go is difficult.
“Break the cycle, break the chain, because love is louder than all of your pain”…I want to step outside, amplify my voice for the world to hear, and sing this song to all those that are suffering. Illness is a form of suffering that at times is out of our control, unless the doctors identify the appropriate treatment to achieve an optimal prognosis. Oppression, in all its forms, is a form of suffering that people collectively have control over when we bind together to dismantle its power. Oppression is a chain that we can break together by sharing our love for one another. First we must acknowledge its multi-faceted existence. Capitalism inspires competition, causing oppression to secure wealth, power, and prestige. Serfdom, slavery, colonialism/Post-colonialism, and eugenics- throughout the ages has asserted that wealthy men in power (many who are white, but not all) and own property are superior to everyone else. This has and continues to breed hurt, hostility, and the near extinction of some races. Alexander the Great, Napoleon, English settlers to America, Hilter, and Donald Trump are a few examples that come to mind. In many cases it is all about the greed, the power, the prestige, but not always. “Break the cycle, break the chain, because love is louder than all of your pain”. I started writing a blog and wanted to finish chapter one of my dissertation earlier today, but I lacked the typical joy that envelops me when I think of, or better yet, feel social work. I chose to stop writing because my profession is joyous and beautiful. Social work reminds all those involved, clients and service providers alike, that love is louder than pain. Unlike other professions, we profess and embody beautiful core values, like social justice, integrity, the dignity and worth of individuals, and so on. We devote ourselves to the enhancement of societal well-being. We love society and most especially those that are suffering because of society. Social workers, no matter how hard we might try, simply cannot eliminate man-made causes of suffering. It requires a larger community founded on the notions of love, justice, equality, dignity, worth, and respect of all individuals. We need all of you in all the fields to speak up against what is wrong and give back to those in need. We must work together to mitigate suffering. We must strive towards love of all. “Tell me the words you long to hear and I’ll sing them loud and clear. Let me heal the wounds you’ve held on to all these years. Break the cycle, break the chain, because love is louder than all of your pain. Break the cycle, break the chain, because love is louder than all of your pain”. Metaphorically I stretch my arms around the world each day, praying for relief. I came to think that if each of us started holding each others' arms that we could actually collectively hug the world. Love would resonate and be heard loudly everywhere throughout the world. I’m looking at a glass of water sitting next to my computer as I write this. The water, like the glass that holds it, is crystal clear. The water is clean, refreshing, and purified even before it dripped into my Brita water pitcher. At times that glass is filled with sparkling mineral water when it is on sale and can fit into my student budget. At times, like now, when I can’t afford sparkling water, I feel selfishly deprived of a special treat that reminds me of time spent with family in Italy, my second home. Even in a small village in Cosenza, where my parents were raised- fresh, rapid, and natural water would spring from the sila. Sila, a word that has no English translation means a combination of mountains and green hills that surround the many small towns that make up this part of Italy. I remember as a child, we would stop along the many hills at various locations that spouted clean water. My family and I, along with other residents, would fill bottles of the finest water and feel rejuvenated by this clean water source. In the past, this clean water was used to clean my family’s clothes in the fountain closest to my mother’s home, which also served as the meeting place for my parents. Clean water was never an issue for me as a first generation Italian American. If anything, clean water acted at the impetus of my parents’ marriage and my mother’s relocation with my father to America. Therefore, clean water then served to further elevate my status in life, by allotting opportunities to higher education that many children living in Italy, and most particularly its Southern region, are deprived of. As a resident of the Global North, there is never an absence of clean water. Thus, I and all residents of the Global North are protected from water-borne diseases. Due to the abundance of clean water, many of us in the Global North fail to consider clean water as a right or even a privilege. We even unnecessarily purchase bottled water at times, which further pollutes the world. In the Global North clean water is simply another continuous non-conscientious aspect of our existence; a commodity. However, this right is withheld from many living in the Global South, which causes millions of preventable deaths each year. Every day 1,000 children die due to water-borne diseases caused by unclean water (UNICEF, 2015). Throughout the globe, 2.4 billion people live without proper sanitation (UNICEF, 2015). In his media report on clean water, Ban Hi-Moon, the General Secretary of the United Nations, states that 884 million people (40% of the world’s population) lack access to clean and healthy water. Outrageously, water-borne disease are the number one cause of death for children under the age of five globally (UNICEF, 2015). On July 28, 2010, the United Nations declared safe water and sanitation as a human right essential to the health of world citizens. However, access to clean water and sanitation remains a problem plaguing almost half of the world’s population. Why is this important? Because clean water is not simply a commodity, but a necessity to ensure the health and well-being of a world population. Let me reiterate that each day 1,000 children die because they lack access to clean water. Let me reiterate that water-borne diseases are the leading cause of death for children under the age of five. That means that our future generation is dying at a rapid speed due to the absence of drinkable water. I started thinking about their water in comparison to my crystal clear glass of water. I imagined murky water, brown and characterized by a stench that erodes the nose. Water, polluted by human waste, garbage, and industrial pollution. Deadly and dangerous water, more fatal than even a possible bullet wound. This is the type of water 40% of the world's population is drinking. Each day 1,000 children die because they lack access to clean water. It is outstanding that what is viewed as a commodity in many countries is the cause of the death and disease in the Global South. I shirk to think of those 1,000 children each day that die. What if one of them held the answer to world peace or a cure for cancer? Or more simply, what if one those children simply had a smile that could light up the darkest of nights? What makes life in the Global North more important than life in the Global South? UNICEF is working diligently in over 100 countries to establish sanitation and clean water sources. For $140.00 American dollars, UNICEF can provide 10 families a kit to ensure their access to clean water. What can we do to change this horrific reality? For me, this is a time of repentance, and instead of purchasing sparkling water on sale, I will divert my funds into a UNICEF donation savings, so that I can continuously contribute financially to change this insoluble situation causing preventable deaths. I end by asking all of you reading this blog, what can you do to ensure access to clean water and sanitation for 40% of the world’s population? What can we do together to stop the deaths of 1,000 children per day caused by water-borne diseases? |
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