The kingdom belongs to them

This entry is a shout out to some of the greatest people I have ever met in my life...some of the children of Immokalee. :)

Every Sunday of the past 3 and a half months or so I have had the privilege of coming to the CIW's reuniones de las mujeres (women's meetings). It's a time for the mujeres to come together and have a chance to speak up and ask questions about the current campaigns within the Coalition without feeling intimidated by any men in the room. There are also English classes that are held during this time, too. I have been privileged enough to be able to be trusted to hang out with their children and really, looking back,it's just been an honor to spend time with them.

I think kids scared me for a while and I am not even exactly sure why. I used to baby-sit my younger cousins all the time when I was finally old enough. Maybe when it was when I realized that I was old enough to bear children if I really wanted to and it hit me what a commitment they really are, that scared me. After this summer of spending time with my kids here in Immo and also living with Itzael (the almost 2 year old son of the family I live with), I definitely want a few of my own. I think it's safe to say all my maternal instincts have officially kicked in, jajajaja.

For all the Spiderman pictures, the panda bear masks and panda bear pictures, the "avion!" games (the airplane), all the abrazos (hugs), for all the smiles (that especially made me hopeful on some of my hardest days here), for the time Giselle painted my nails with orange paint, for all the conversations in Spanglish, the legos, the Dora the Explorer puzzle, el burro, duck, duck, goose! games, for trying to explain to kids what being bi-racial means, the talks about indigenous roots (both theirs and mine), drawing with chalk, for coloring in The Little Mermaid brown instead of peach (because brown skin is beautiful), for being able to affirm my kids in that our culture is beautiful and something to be celebrated, for being able to remember where I come from because of them, for being accepted by them without any questions.

This is for them.

The courageous kids of Immokalee. They are not saints, they are not without sin. Yet my heart breaks for them in a way because they are forced to grow up brushing their teeth, washing their faces, and taking baths in agua mala (bad water). I'll never forget all the times I had to walk them away from the water fountain in the community center and remind them that the water here is not the best to drink. I don't want to forget their confused looks on their faces as I walked them over to the kitchen to get water from our 5 gallon jugs instead. The thoughts of the kids being constantly exposed to water full of pesticides, arsenic and other toxic chemicals is truly sickening. That's an unwelcome invitation to things like leukemia right there.

Perhaps I have a lot of things to pray about acting upon. Perhaps? No, I definitely do!

The kingdom of God belongs to ones such as these. Ones who can love unconditionally, ones who can accept others and welcome them into their lives without passing any pre-judgments, ones who trust and accept love when it is given back to them.

I have so, so, so, so, so much to learn.............