We Were All Girls Once!

Our retreat in Morrisburg, ON is over for another year. I've finally finished unpacking and processed the new things I've learned. This year, imo, was the best so far. They are all great but this year had an extra umph. And a big part of it was the generosity demonstrated by the clayers at the retreat as well as those who donated their beautiful creations for our fundraiser. There are things about the running of the workshop that we learned and will do better next time.
The fundraiser, though, was a great success. We had gifts from various small companies and from bigger ones. We had gifts from our fellow clayers willing to share their talent and creations with all of us in order to achieve the goal. And the goal was to raise money which was to be donated to http://becauseiamagirl.ca/ . I am so proud of how much we raised this year. It exceeds my expectations and more.
I always explain the reason for this fundraiser. It is simply because I have a wonderful life where I am safe and can pursue my dreams and ideas without having to think of my survival every day. This gift (because be sure that is it a gift to have been born in the right country) is not a given to every other girl in the world. This always fills me with such sadness. And then I ask myself what can I do?

I am so proud that we raised ourselves up to the task and helped in this way. Thank you everyone! We will probably never know who this donation helps exactly but we can sleep at night knowing that we tried. It is with consistent effort that we change our world. Thank you for accompanying me on this journey.
OK, enough mushy stuff, time for some numbers. We raised 688$ at the retreat this year which is almost 3 times what we raised last year. I donated the amount through http://plancanada.ca/GiftsofHope/products/33-Matched-gifts/ . With the matched items that we bought like: help for children with HIV, bed nets, birth certificates, quinoa, harvest baskets, emergency aid, food baskets for families, a Mom shop, clean water and baby chicks. The total amount of the donation that our 688$ bought is 4626$! That is so cool. This was all possible by every one's small efforts taken together to create something so huge. We are so much more than the sum of our parts!
This photo of a piece I did at a workshop with Gera Scott-Chandler last summer, was the closest I could find to the theme of this post. She was inspired by a portrait of a young girl in my cottage. Thanks again everyone. Together, one step at a time, we can change the world.