Breaking the cycle

A friend of mine has spoken quite a bit about "Stopping for the one in front of you" .. Now that I am home, I have had time to really ponder that statement... "Stop for the one in front of you"... There are just so many needs that we come across daily , and some days each concern represents dozens of children... it can be overwhelming at times, but some how in some way there is a peace , or a joy if you will that comes when you stop and help "the one in front of you"... The one that stands out. the one that because you stopped may one day change the world around them... That is the way I feel about our Altynai... shown here with one of the children she has taught English to from the orphanage ...To me, she , like a hand full of others is special... I can't explain what it is that showed me this before I ever really knew her. And before you get all freaked out and start writing me that ALL children are special, I wrote the book on that one,... but i still maintain that there is something different.... over and over it is confirmed... despite the trials that Altynai continues to face daily, she has a determination to rise above.... to over come... to be the one....

This last trip with the team from PI, they "Stopped for the one in front of them", in fact it was for a group of three young men ..( two of them shown here ... the third must be camera shy today ).Three young men who, like Altynai, have come from incredibly difficult beginnings, scratching and clawing themselves out of the life cycle that they have been born into... super bright, incredible abilities despite the life around them... In any other world they would be movers and shakers, but being orphans, in the world they live in they are only set up for disappointment.... We spend thousands of dollars trying to save kids from a life with no future, and we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to rehabilitate men and women who have succumb to their world.... Yet today, in front of us is an opportunity to help as these three young men stand out.... three young men standing in front of us.... There names came up again as I was talking with Sam today... their situation continues to be at the forefront of what we do... We have an opportunity to break the cycle..Our dream agents had worked their magic, and had been able to get all three boys enrolled in University for a year for only $1200... With so many needs around you, how do justify helping the one or in this case three?....

Today I received an email from a friend... she shared with me the story of Ryan Michael , a wonderful young man who's life was cut short... to his family and all those who knew him... he is not just part of a statistic or part of a group... he continues to be the one in front of them.... In his honour, they have made a donation of $500 and asked us to use it to Change a life .... we have decided that we are going to believe that this donation will be the catalyst...,the beginning to Change not just one but the lives of three incredible young men that for what ever reason... today stand as "the one in front of you"... the opportunity is their for all of us to pour into these boys, and to make a difference that will last not just for their life time, but break the cycle for generations to come.....