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Show a Mama Some Luvin’ and Help Make Even Greater Epic Change

What does compassion look like to you?

Consider this:

A barefoot middle aged man, scarcely clothed and frigid, searches for shelter among city streets of a bitter cold winter evening.

In the same hour, two management consultants approach their car, still probing their meaning of life discussion shared over desert after seeing a play.

For a moment, three lives converge on that street corner.

Compassion ensues upon hearing the man’s story. The friends purchase basic necessities–shoes, coat, winter blankets–to ensure basic immediate care.

Hope is restored. The man sobs in gratitude– no one has ever helped him so much. The friends cry too.  They part ways. Lives are never the same.

(So planted the seed of what would later sprout as Epic Change, the vision of Stacey Monk’s and Sanjay Patel –an organization which seeks to amplify the voice and vision of grassroots changemakers and social entrepreneurs.

A  few years after helping that man, Stacey found herself in a similar mindset as he’d been, searching for hope after  losing her brother.

This time in Tanzania, volunteering for a Shepherds Junior School, she encountered Lucy Kamptoni, a Tanzanian woman with vision, hope,and 120 children, (now over 400).

What ensued would become a partnership of hope actualized.

Mama Lucy’s story has been shared significantly over the past 3 years, about how she first started the school on a plot of land she paid for from the proceeds of her chicken farm, about how she almost lost the school when developers took over the land, about how Epic Change was born and through tireless efforts of Stacey and Sanjay and countless other, and how Mama Lucy continued to brave technological obstacles to blog and tweet and share her story and that of the students.

Over 2 years, Epic Change would host #tweetsgivings, win an IdeaBlog contest, and in one form or another leverage social media to spread the story of this grassroots Mama.

Stacey felt that power of universal love through the vision of Mama Lucy, the same love she felt for the man that winter night in San Francisco, and the same love that would fuel  unceasing efforts to awaken all hearts to comprehend our duty to help one another, no matter what geological disparity separate us. Because of Epic Change,  the care of children as a global community’s charge is gaining a foothold.

Stacey eloquently describes the hope she learned from Mama Lucy this way:

…Hope is ours to create… it never dies as long as we just hold onto it…hope is not idle faith, but hard work. It is saving for months to scrape shillings together to buy a tiny piece of land.  It is taking hours to send a single email if that’s what it takes. It is learning how to use a computer for the first time in a language that’s not your own.  It is negotiating with neighbors who demand dollars from an unknown source to borrow power lines.  It is busing students to town to stand in line all day to vote on the internet, believing their tiny voices can make the difference.   It is trying to understand wireless connectivity when it makes no sense at all.  It is finding a way to keep going when the landlord sells your school. It is building classrooms from hen houses. Hope is not easy to create. Hope is PowerPoint presentations and pitches, graphics and code.  It is social media and strategy. Hope is hard work. Hope is holding on fast when the whole wide world and every fiber of your weary being says to give up.

And now Stacey wants to say Thank you to Mama Lucy. Hence the To Mama with Love campaign.

So maybe it will make sense why I paused in awe and gratitude that a week ago she direct messaged me on twitter asking for my help.

Hello, I could hardly wait to dive in, as I viewed it as a moment to pause and love the mothers in our lives with the end result as a gift to Mama Lucy and the children of Shepherd’s Junior School.

Can you see why I didn’t hesitate to say yes?

So here’s my now pitch:

Consider if you’ve ever felt hopeless.

Consider if someone’s triumph story helped restore your hope.

Consider if you’ve ever offered practical assistance to anyone in need and restored their hope.

And consider if you’ve ever been responsible for the care of a child or children.

If you can say yes to any of the above, you will totally “get” what the “To Mama With Love” Campaign is all about.

Epic Change wants to thank Mama Lucy and her motherhood…with the donation of a home for the children of Shepherd’s Junior School.

Watch this: (video re: mama lucy)

So here’s where you come in:

Read about Stacey’s motive for starting To Mama with Love.

Reflect on the love you have for a mama in your life and consider making a heart space for one or all of those influences. (There is a small donation requested along with making the heartspace).

And share this idea with others who may wish to send a heart space to someone as well.

Here’s two of the heartspaces I made:

One for my mom, sister and grandmother.

And one for Stacey and Mama Lucy.

And, should you find you need help with how to use these tools to make a card, just leave a comment below. I would value helping you say thank you to a momma you love.

And if you already have a twitter account, follow: @epicchange, @tomamawithlove, @staceymonk and @sanjspatel.

And if you’re on Facebook, friend to mama with love and Epic Change.

Also, same is true here…if you need help with those tools, leave a comment below.

Would so enjoy hearing who’s impacted you as a ‘mother’ and what comes to mind when you think of her or him or them.

So here’s to everyone who’s ever mothered or been mothered 🙂 and thank you for spending some thought space hearing this story.

Big hugs to you…..

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{ 2 comments… add one }
  • Tresha Thorsen May 11, 2010, 9:12 pm

    Thanks Vita. Glad you found the post. Tremendous ongoin endeavor. 😉

  • Vita May 10, 2010, 11:28 pm

    Bless ya Tre very heartfelt

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