Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Top 50 !


GREAT NEWS!


I made it to the top 50 in the CBC Champion of Change Competion!
49 EXTRAORDINARY individuals have been chosen as Champions of Change for putting their hearts and souls into action by giving to others. I feel so honoured to share this moment of time with them all. Over 1,350 Canadians were nominated and The Big Little Caravan of Joy made it to this stage so far. Keep your fingers crossed and please hold onto the vision so that The Big Little Caravan of Joy can make it to the finals. Now wouldn't that be something?! The 10 finalists will receive $10,000 for their chosen charity. The top 2 will receive $25,000! This would be so awesome for the BLCJ next summer as I will need all the financial help possible to run my arts camps; (8 of them in 4 countries) and 2 National Educational Conferences held in Swaziland and South Africa titled: The Empowered African Child. A big thanks to all of you who took the time to nominate me. Check out all the other amazing volunteers that made it to the top 50! 





On November 15th they will be announcing the Top 10 finalists. Also, a big thank you to my supporters. You all mean so much to me. And finally, a big hug and a kiss to the Bedford Park Players and Summerhill Players who keep showing up to dance, sing and play so that orphaned and vulnerable children in Africa can do the same!
Three cheers to us all! 

My Fund Raiser has begun!
This cast called the Summerhill Players is very special to me for they are from my own community and they range between the ages of 26-75 years old. The generosity and benevolence that goes into a production like this makes you truly believe in the spirit of humanity. All of the actors, face painters, creations of the costumes by Gail Leger, hair and makeup design by Kimberly, Mike Irwin, making the animals in his back yard, Andy Berry who created the set in his garage and the list goes on and on. All bright beings donating their time for the bigger picture and having a blast while doing it too! This experience has two big bonuses: Firstly, it is a joyful experience that celebrates community that collaborates and creates together. Secondly, it is operates as fund raiser so that 1,000 orphans can do the same( act, sing and dance).~ How brilliant is that?! If it wasn't for Kristi Herold who pushed me to create this fundraiser the Big Little Caravan of Joy would not have its wheels! Nicky Potter, from Friends of Noah Canada, has supported my vision by inviting me to be a part of her charity!
www.noahorphans.ca



Why did I created the Big Little Caravan of Joy?
My intention in designing the BLCJ is to keep the inborn sense of wonder and playful spirit alive in the hearts and minds of the African child. In doing so, it very important to me that compassionate African Artists jump on board so they too can guide, witness and model this magnificent unfolding of the child’s bright light. For the children of Africa, this rediscovery and expression of joy and connection to their own culture, immediately raises the vibration of a community into a state of new found enthusiasm, pride and fortified hope.

How do I do it?
With my Courage Muscles -
And so it begins... the flexing and contracting of my courage muscles to keep this journey of The Big Little Caravan of Joy going strong... Sometimes the fear of keeping this charity moving and growing paralyzes me. Traveling to Africa by myself into unknown communities can be a challenging experience. This is how I keep doing it... First, I slowly start flexing my desired action in my mind. I inherently know that for me to exercise my real courage I need to face my fears straight on! I do want to make this one thing clear- having courage doesn’t mean doing foolish, dangerous things without a thinking of the possible consequences.

Then I slowly start to light the fires of my curiosity about the the new journey ahead. I start to let my curiosity guide me, my higher self inform me; and by doing so I always find something new and fresh waiting around the corner. I become so
intrigued with the unknown I actually embrace it!

And sometimes I just pretend to be courageous! If it is really out of my comfort zone I start taking steps to pretend to be courageous even though I am not feeling it at all! Soon enough I am doing the one thing that made me shake in my boots and soon thereafter I find myself having found the courage needed to move forward.

Another little thing I do is use my by beliefs to reinforce my desire to move forward- Simply, I go back to what I believed in the first place and I ask myself is this the one thing I believe in 100% with my heart. If it is a big yes then that will help catapult me into present and focused attention and action.


Courage is something we cultivate and must mindfully nurture in ourselves. This may mean taking chances which will lead to discovering our truest dreams and the confronting those fears that hold us back. Being a dancer I am always developing strength and a natural edge in a stretch or dance movement. Too far can be too much and the body can get injured, too little and my body is not hitting its potential. The perfect balance can create a muscle memory so that the dance can flow with grace! In many ways when one taps into courage it is like contracting a muscle- a courage muscle....All of us have courage muscles. Exercising courage could be interpreted in so many ways: standing up for something you believe in, standing up for someone else's rights, singing a song or dancing a dance in front of people, going on an international adventure; even trying a new food could be a courageous act for some. This "heart ~ work" of mine is constantly requiring me to contract my courage muscles.

My New Project!
A conference for 1,000 African Childcare Givers and Artists!

THE EMPOWERED AFRICAN CHILD 2011 is a National Conference that will embody the spirit of the performing arts, Swazi and South African Culture and play as to give rise the the true spirit of the young African child. Created to honour the day of The African Child this conference is designed specifically to empower childcare workers through the performing arts and the power of creative play so that the young child can benefit in the future. THE EAC will meet the needs for all child care workers, NGOs and educators inspiring them to connect to the child in the most effective, creative way possible.

This is what I hope to achieve:
*develop, support, encourage and expand the capacity with innovative ways in a teaching child-centric methodology of the arts for all delegates involved

*empower artists and teachers and positively create new ways of understanding and meaning in working together as a global community through the arts

*act as a model to create a sustainable arts program during the year for Swazi artists and educators nationally

*act as creative exchange for visiting artists and children from around Swaziland to come together to create new bodies of work and perform with and for the children

build new networks of experts in the field and relationships with artists and educators

*reinforce the importance and relevance of playful experiences for the Swazi child’s development


And that is all for now! I will keep you posted on my standing with CBC’s Champion of Change! I am think this is such a great thing that CBC created. A positive form of news!

Thank you my friends for reading my Blog!

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