The second clue: Listen to your inner voice.

August 17th, 2009 – I am embarking on the second Global Peace Train journey with a strange ache in my chest. It is a deep yearning, a calling, for doing more of the work I discovered on the first Global Peace Train journey to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in June of this year. Partnering with the L.I.F.E. organization (see video from Buenos Aires on http://www.globalpeacetrain.com/past) strengthened my devotion to help others in need. Every day I yearn to work with people who live below the poverty line. It might sound strange but I feel extremely alive when I am in difficult places with people who want to evolve.While I was in Buenos Aires at the L.I.F.E. facility in June, there was one young boy who touched my heart deeply. He was quiet and outcast by the other children. Perhaps it was because he was blind in one eye. He was curious about the “peripheral beings” (stuffed animals) that we had brought into the slums where he lived. It was growing dark and as our time to leave grew closer, he finally came up to me. I offered him my favorite white teddy bear and asked him if he wanted to give it a hug. His face lit up and he wrapped his arms around the bear.He was so happy! I asked him to toss me the bear and we began to play catch. As it flew through the air and the boy’s joy bubbled over into the room. I had never seen a child burst open with such happiness over a teddy! Night closed in and it was time for our departure. The child gave the bear one last squeeze and I walked out of the slums and into a new life of service.That night I wept. I was not sad, but moved to tears, that we were able to uplift a child in this simple way. I could see the boy’s face whose name I had not caught. It did not matter that we would not see each other again. A teddy bear had brought us together and I was left with the best gift I had ever received. Words cannot begin to explain the love that stirred in my chest that night. And so the seed that had been planted for Global Peace Train was nourished. My urge to play in places where the lightness of being hides in the shadows was uncovered that night and the aching desire inside of me to bring joy to others was revealed.I am currently en route to Kenya, Africa for the International Grassroots Women’s Peace Conference. The purpose of Global Peace Train’s first destination to Kenya is two fold. We will be filming stories of the women who are leaders of communities there. We will be exploring what is working and what isn’t, as well as what is actually needed to uplift those in extreme poverty. We will also begin to build a family of people around the world who are working to bring peace to their communities and are committed to creating enlightened societies. The journey to Kenya is also intended to explore the nature of the Global Peace Train and what we can further offer to the world.  Our purpose is to develop resources for those in need and have fun doing so.  I will be posting the gems of videos I collect as the trip continues and will send it out with this blog.  Stay tuned for more tales as the adventure unfolds. ~Aja~