Well-Being For All

Richness of Spirit

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in seeing with new eyes.
-Marcel Proust, Writer (1871-1922)

Al Wigood spends a good part of each year in La Buena Fe and works in 28 communities where the level of poverty is high and many people make under a $1 day. Yet, he has living proof that being rich in spirit can affect your life more than being rich in capital.

There is one particular family, with no source of income, whom Al visits frequently. The family is a single mother and five children who are subsistence farmers and grow their own food. One son, aged 13 years, declined the opportunity to attend secondary school because of his responsibility to support his mother, grandmother and his siblings.

Yet, despite sacrifices like this, Al says when he visits the family they are “full of smiles, good spirit and will never let him leave without a gift of bananas, oranges or something to share”. The son does his farming without complaining and the rest of the family works to make ends meet as well.

Al attributes this special spirit as the motivation for Dianna, one of the eldest, to hold a dream of becoming a nurse when she graduates secondary school. Dianna has just recently finished her first year of school, with the help of funds from PRR Education program. Funds raised by Al himself, and by the generous contributions of 350 Canadian donors to the PRR Education program make it possible for students like Dianna to fulfill her dreams.

Diana says, "We're not poor, we just don’t have any money". May we all see the world with such a positive spirit as Dianna and her family!

posted by World Accord Staff @ 2:07 PM