The feature below is brought to you by HOW Global, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. See Beautiful in a world of those shunned  I have worked hard as the Founder of the Non-profit HOW Global Inc. to establish myself as a small organization with heart and passion that gets things done. I also learned, in doing this since 2006, that there must be a strong business plan for my mission. Along with that there needs to be true partnerships with others who are not just seeking handouts but, like me, want to see real change in the world- a true solution that can end poverty and lend a hand to peace on earth. I see providing clean water as the answer to that problem. I also see bringing water as a tool to encourage peace, love beauty and new life. Every week I get a new request from those living outside of our developed world; the basic needs of life come easily for many of us. In some developing countries, people live each day with the sole purpose of just trying to survive without the basic needs of life. They are out of our sight and reach, yet my calling to do this work keeps them right here in my mind as if they are next door. With each request to become one of HOW Global’s new Green Hubs of sustainability, I read the words begging me to bring water to a new country I have never visited and put water into their community school. I often wonder, how do I begin to choose? Everyone deserves to have water and the basic needs of life. We try to put on our list those rural communities in far out places in the world where roads are unpaved and a family of 6 lives in a mud hut without water or electric. They are the forgotten people in our world, living without a voice. Our model picks a school, orphanage or community center that will act as the model of sustainability for that entire community. It takes special leaders who live on the property to want to head such project. Our goal is to have the next water well ignite hope and motivation with lots of action from the place where water will act as a bridge to many more phases of development. So, we assess our yearly water well projects by seeking out on the ground leadership within that small village and we form relationships to find a school village that will have a huge impact on the entire surrounding community. The strategy is that this new model will spread information and knowledge to others. Word of mouth spreads like wildfire in extremely rural areas of the world. They have little entertainment and media and spend most of their time with eye to eye contact, chatting to each other. Most of my success of expansion of projects in South Africa, Ghana, Kenya and Haiti came this way. We would bring water and food sustainability to a school village and before you knew it, ten other school principals were reaching out to me asking how they could become a Green Hub school and become a more sustainable force in their village community. Our newest request came from Tanzania. We were told the story of children born with Albinism and how they are hunted down and killed in many parts of Africa. As I started my research, my heart sank as I read and saw photos of what was done to those with this genetic mutation all because of them looking so differently with their pure white skin, no eyebrows, white hair. This stands out even more within a black skinned community. The body parts are also seen as something special and so it is not safe to have to have a child with Albinism in these places in the world because they will be dismembered. Many are hunted down and killed as they are viewed as evil. People fear the unknown. Lack of education and information causes people to create their own reality of what a person with Albinism is about. The issue of them being different is what is causing them to be shunned and even killed. I formed a relationship with the leaders of this mission. I spent many months getting to know about the land, the people, the drilling that needed to be done in Shinyanga, Tanzania. I collected reports, I made calls, I brought on college interns to inspire them to learn more about this potential project where we can bring water to change lives or, even better, change the idea of what beauty is all about. We included USA primary schools with a presentation on how we need to accept people for their difference and help those who need us the most in this world. They helped us raise funds for the new well. In the meantime, in Tanzania, the government that once housed this group of people, has now closed all programs of the preschool and teens. This means that they are not being housed anymore or protected. They are sent home to their own villages until the new purchased property now owned by the founders is built and ready for them. There is now an emergency need. The newly created village will hold these outcasted souls from birth to adult while working to integrate them into the community. There is agriculture in place for a huge garden where they will sell crops. There will be family-like homes on the property instead of an orphanage. A school, a training center and more is all in the plans and is being funded by a large group of individuals who have taken on this cause My organization, HOW Global was asked to bring our most magical gift of bringing water to this property. Water that I see as a clean start to wash away the ugly thoughts and actions done to these unique humans. We will visit the property in August and start our engagement of the surrounding community to try and create a relationship with the new neighboring villages preparing them for the arrival of these angels on earth. Bringing water that can be shared by expanding pipes will open the gates of ignorance allowing them to learn more about these people that look so different yet are just the same as all of us. This is our chosen project of 2018 and we will bring a water well followed by a solar pump to this group of people in waiting so they are safe and loved and seen as beautiful. Written by Rachael Paulson, Founder of HOW GlobalEdited by Rachel McLeroy for See Beautiful
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The feature below is brought to you by Realize Your Beauty, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. “I learned that you can’t judge a book by its cover but by the details inside. Everyone has the same problems; everyone is unique, original and beautiful. I got to let out my thoughts and experiences in a peaceful fun way. I also got to let everything out to people in a group”. – Raynell, age 14 Realize Your Beauty is so excited for the opportunity to share our work with the See Beautiful community! To begin, we’d love to tell you more about who we are and what we do. Let’s start with our mission statement: Realize Your Beauty promotes positive body image to youth through theatre arts. We bring plays, workshops & summer camps to youth to promote self-esteem & kindness. Our workshops focus on fostering inner beauty- taking the focus away from societal standards and the pressure to be 'pretty'. We encourage students to put their energy into kindness, integrity and respect towards themselves and others and to focus on developing their own unique inner qualities. For our older students, we also teach eating disorder awareness. Teaching them the signs & symptoms of an eating disorder, and how to reach out for help if they or a friend need support. RYB is a 501c3 based in NYC, with program offerings in New York and Colorado. Our website can be found here: http://realizeyourbeauty.org  The Project Currently, Realize Your Beauty is hard at work preparing for our summer camps. This summer we are creating more beautiful by helping our campers fully discover the incredible gifts they have to offer to this world! We teach them that they are the most beautiful when they are the most themselves. Encouraging campers to understand that beauty comes from within and helping them to build their confidence allows them to grow and create their own beautiful in this world! “Never judge someone based on how they look. Get to know them better and their personality before you say something. I learned you must accept yourself for others to accept you”. – Rabeenah, age 14 More about camp: Every summer we hold Camp Realize Your Beauty- a 5-night summer sleepaway camp at the base of Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes Park, Colorado. The summer camp teaches classic theatre techniques, while also including ‘empowerment’ workshops throughout the day. Our campers learn acting, play writing & directing skills, with a special emphasis placed on developing a positive sense of self. We cover the following topics of ‘empowerment’: self-esteem, kindness (towards self and others) and anti-bullying. Our course also includes tons of traditional camp fun – including nature walks, archery, arts & crafts, fire rings and s’mores! Throughout the week, the campers use their new knowledge and skills to create their own theatre piece, to be performed for parents on the final day of camp, at pick-up time. “I learned that I don’t have to say bad things about other people. They taught us that we are beautiful how we are, not how we look.” – Eloidy, age 13  The Need Camp Realize Your Beauty highly values a diverse and inclusive camp. We prioritize making camp a safe and judgment-free zone, and to include campers and counselors of all backgrounds. Among the ways that Camp RYB focuses on these philosophies is by making sure that campers of all financial backgrounds have access to our programs. For this reason, it is extremely important to us that camp remains affordable and accessible to children of all backgrounds. To that end, we keep our tuition as low as we possibly can and provide discounts and scholarships for those campers in financial need. This summer, 1/3 of our campers will attend camp on reduced tuition. However, the low tuition means that without support, it’s very difficult for us to meet our expenses. This summer is no exception, and Realize Your Beauty is in urgent need of support to bridge the gap between our summer camp expenses and the income we will receive from campers. With support, our summer camp can grow and thrive, and we can encourage a whole new generation to create beautiful in this world! We’re very grateful to See Beautiful for the opportunity to share our story! To learn more about our programs, please visit our website: realizeyourbeauty.org “I am now working towards being fully confident in my own skin & have tips on how to do it in the right way.” – Danielle, age 12   Written by Stacey Lorin Merkl, Founder and Executive Directory of Realize Your BeautyEdited by Rachel McLeroy for See Beautiful The feature below is brought to you by Paint Love, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. Paint Love brings free, high-quality arts programming to youth facing poverty or trauma. “Sometimes when I feel mad at myself, I will say mean things about myself like I’m stupid, or I’m ugly. But since we did this Paint Love project, now I will think about myself that I’m smart, and unique, and perfect just the way I am.” Fourth grader at Powder Springs Elementary School, working with Artfully Made Club The ten-year-old girl smiles and goes back to creating a mosaic border around a mirror on which she has written “I am smart and quirky,” as a daily reminder to herself. Being a kid is hard enough- facing self-doubt, bullying, and peer pressure. But for the two thousand young people Paint Love works with each year, growing up is even more stressful. Most of the kids in this project, this school, and throughout other schools and nonprofits Paint Love serves, are growing up facing poverty or trauma.  Paint Love empowers kids through art. Our programs go above and beyond the ordinary. Paint Love projects introduce youth to new ways of seeing beautiful in the world, their community, and themselves. Through projects like screen printing, wax encaustics, collaborative murals, metal pours and metalsmithing, writing and storytelling, design and illustration, stop-motion animation, glass blowing, quilt making, sculpture, paper making, photography, and more, our programs teach new mediums while incorporating intentional themes and social-emotional skill building focused on seeing and creating beauty and goodness. Paint Love serves young people who often have the least access to the arts and creative self- expression, but could benefit the most. To reach youth who face, or risk facing, poverty or trauma, we pair local, professional artists with Title 1 schools and youth-serving nonprofits. Paint Love takes care of all the planning and provides all the supplies to create extraordinary projects that our partners wouldn’t be able to do on their own.  Our nonprofit partners serve children fleeing domestic violence, facing sexual abuse, grieving after the loss of a parent or sibling, homeless youth, new immigrants and refugees, and more. Our school partners are designated Title 1 by the GA Department of Education based on the number of students eligible for free/ reduced lunch (FRL). On average, 65-95% of their students are eligible for FRL. Over half of the art teachers have zero budget for supplies, and at best, serve between 500-1000 students with a supply budget of $1- $3 per student for the entire year. Since Atlanta is a hub for newcomer refugees and immigrants, most school partners have a high rate of English language learners and children who do not speak English as well as high numbers of transient students- including homeless children and those in the foster care system.  Studies show that constant stress (like growing up in poverty) or trauma (like losing a parent or being abused) impacts kids’ developing brains and has a permanent effect on their lifelong ability to do everything from have healthy relationships to manage emotions. Arts engagement is actually proven to reduce stress and teach skills that can help them live healthy, happy lives. Here is one example of how Paint Love’s art programs make a difference in kids’ lives: Cat Goolsby, a professional metalsmith and Paint Love artist, works often with teens from Wellspring Living, a residential program for girls who have been removed from sex trafficking. A young woman participating in Cat’s jewelry making workshop is trusted with real tools like a motorized drill and experiences how good it feels to earn trust, and even overcomes a little bit of fear operating the machine or stamping a piece of metal. When she gets discouraged that her pendant didn’t come out how she wanted, she is supported and encouraged to try again and she learns persistence. When she is finished, she gifted the necklace to a friend, and she feels pride that she created something beautiful and unique and happy to have something to give away. Through this project, she learns new skills and her mind is challenged in new ways with designing and creating. She acknowledges and manages tough emotions, and thinks of a way to do something kind for someone else. She sees that everyone’s projects came out differently and there is more than one way to do the project. She learns to control her anger and frustration, maybe she realizes that drawing designs is calming to her and recognizes that is something she can do next time she gets upset. She has fun and leaves feeling good about herself, and like she can successfully tackle new challenges.  Paint Love would use support from See Beautiful to bring empowering arts programming to new Title 1 school partners in the upcoming school year. We currently have a waiting list of teachers and principals from Title 1 schools across the Metro-Atlanta area who want to bring Paint Love projects to their students. Our school partners receive a minimum of 8-12 hours of programming, but sometimes, with funding support from the community, we have the capacity to offer even more, like the recent 200- foot mural artist Brent Coleman created with students at Clarkdale Elementary. At Clarkdale, 86% of students are economically disadvantaged and receive free or reduced lunch. Brent volunteered over 80 hours and worked with all 800 students during every stage from planning the mural to the final touches. The mural highlights the STEAM focus at Clarkdale and the international community at the school, as well as includes sections where the kids could paint anything they wanted to represent themselves and leave their mark on their school in a big way!  We believe every child should have access to programming that helps them see beautiful and encourages them to spread that beauty. Paint Love serves See Beautiful’s priorities of equity, inclusion, justice, and peace, as our core mission is built around providing opportunities to youth across the spectrum of access, ability, and privilege, with a special focus on those who are often overlooked and underserved. At Paint Love, we choose art as our tool because we know how transformational it can be, but our main priority is always empowering youth to create and see the beautiful in themselves and their world, even beyond the time they are holding a paintbrush.  Written by Laura Shaw, Operations Manager at Paint LoveEdited by Rachel McLeroy for See Beautiful The feature below is brought to you by Georgia Steppers League, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here.  The Georgia Steppers League Creates More Beautiful Youth Step League Highlights Individualism Through Creative Expression The world is just a bit more beautiful when it is colored with the creativity and comradery displayed by the members of the Georgia Steppers League. The Metro Atlanta-based league, now entering its tenth year, has served as the umbrella organization for more than 1,000 male and female step team performers ranging in age from kindergarten to college freshmen. Since its inception, the league has taken pride in providing leadership training, character building workshops, college scholarships and local competitions awarding cash prizes to winning teams from Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and Florida. The Georgia Steppers League’s 2018-2019 initiative, “Bring Back Our Boys,” is in final grant review with See Beautiful and the league hopes to use the funding award to recruit and support more male participants during this year’s competitive season. With the funding, the league will continue its impact in area schools by developing student ambassadors who will provide leadership in their local communities. Any young man receiving funding through this source will be charged to conduct one culminating team event inspiring league members to see what beautiful in themselves and one another. The league’s goal is to provide a lens for students to use to see themselves as the beautiful individuals they are. In addition to serving area young men, the league provides ten months of services to any student wanting to be a part of a step team program. The league has been home to over fourteen teams who hold national titles as the best of the best in the country. As the league continues its mission and vision to Empower, Expose and Elevate is members, it is evident that a partnership with See Beautiful is a perfect, beautiful combination. Written by Clarisse Frazier of Georgia Steppers LeagueEdited by Rachel McLeroy for See Beautiful  We have a lot of caregivers, educational stakeholders, and families in our See Beautiful Community. We also have an amazing opportunity for you to get kids involved in an art project that leads to more beautiful for an extraordinary non-profit: Helping Mamas! Short story: Your kid(s) creates a piece of art depicting "A Vision of Unity" and it will be on display at Helping Mama's Art Show!  More details: Helping Mamas is an amazing Atlanta non-profit doing incredible work to empower families and organizations in need. They're hosting an Art Exhibit called: A Vision of Unity. All of the art displayed will be student art work and YOUR kid(s) can create it! The art will be matted by Helping Mama's and on display at their event on Saturday, May 13th at The Hudgens Center for the Arts. Please let us, or Helping Mama's, know if you'd like to participate and we can get you additional details! Visit Helping Mama's invitation HERE. Know a non-profit we should partner with? Tell us about them on our nomination/application page. Inspired by this post and want to spread the word? Share away.... Author: Lydia Criss MaysFounder & Owner, See Beautiful The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." ~ B.B. King Join us in celebrating our newest giving initiative with the Kutemwa Foundation. The Kutemwa Foundation, alleviates the cost of schooling for young children in Lusaka, Zambia, by providing funding for required school supplies. Additionally, many children with whom they support are vulnerable to not being able to continue education or are orphans and must receive supplemental financial support to attend school. Since schools in Zambia work on a trimester schedule, there are three points during the year they look provide funding for school supplies including books, pencils, paper and more to the tune of $6-7 per child. Additionally, when the school year starts many children do not have the means to pay for tuition or school uniforms. And while this is only Kutemwa Foundation's first year of operation, they are working to collect livelihood gifts to bless children with for the coming year (i.e., soap, toothbrushes, etc). How your purchase helps: Your purchase provides a child with required school supplies for an entire trimester. Additional funding from this Giving Initiative will provide tuition for students who need the supplemental support. Connect with Kutemwa Foundation directly here, Facebook, & Instagram.
"Childhood is that state which ends the moment a puddle is first viewed as an obstacle instead of an opportunity." ~ Kathy Williams  Puddles aren't the only things we start to see as obstacles as we grow older and perhaps, out of our wise-ness. Have you ever had the treat of watching children ride bikes? They're not doing it to burn calories, they're doing it because it's flat out fun. Pedaling up a hill means you've won an invisible race, not "gotten your burn on." Asking mom or dad if you can go on a bike ride isn't the equivalent of asking them to drop you off at a spin class. When did FUN become WORK? When did opportunities become obstacles? This topic certainly isn't a new one, but it's worth the reminder that this philosophical question is answered in a matter of perspectives. It's a mind game. Is the day ahead of you an obstacle or an opportunity? We're seeing beautiful in today being an opportunity. Wanna jump in puddles with us? Are you looking for a tangible reminder to see beautiful, or know someone who needs one? Check out our See Beautiful™ products (and feel good knowing a portion of every sale is donated to the See Beautiful Giving Initiative of your choice). Author: Lydia Criss MaysFounder & Owner, See Beautiful Uh-oh,  Welcome to the Inagural See Beautiful Pop Quiz! Today, you have one question to answer. Good luck. 1. Which of the following choices exemplifies seeing beautiful? A. You glance at yourself in the mirror and cringe at the reflection staring back at you. B. You dislike everything you see in your closet, throwing many of your wardrobe choices to the floor after sporting them unhappily in front of your full length mirror. C. You feel like everyone is judging you and so you go ahead and order the super-sized fries. D. You make it a point to consciously and consistently recognize the beauty you inherently possess and you carry yourself with that understanding throughout the day, searching for it in others as well. If you picked "D" you're right. If A, B, or C resonated with you, you're not alone; however, we offer you the opportunity to reread all four choices above to think about which is more fun. Which choice (and it's a choice) offers more happiness? Which choice makes being around others more enjoyable? Which choice makes you feel better? For most of us, the answer is D, again. You know the right answer and this wasn't a lesson taught in school. You know the right answer because it's already inside of you. You passed the pop quiz, it's time you allowed yourself to apply it to your life. Congratulations, oh-smart-and-beautiful-one! Author: Lydia Criss MaysFounder & CEO, See Beautiful What words pop into your head as you stare at the following two images?
Here we some of the first words that others shared when viewing the pictures:
Life lessons from a rickety old bird house: It's the ages-old saying, "It's what's on the inside that counts." If we'd judged the birdhouse from the outside, it might appear "worthless" or "broken". From the inside, it's life-giving and inspiring. What do we look at in life like the birdhouse? Do we notice and critique the outside? Do we do this with ourselves? Or, do we take the extra step and peek inside, finding countless ways to see beautiful. Author: Lydia Criss MaysFounder & CEO, See Beautiful Brilliantly written by one of the most inspiring educators, theorist and curriculum developers, Loris Malaguzzi of Reggio Emilia, it honors the beautiful and many languages of children and ways we can honor them: The Hundred Languages of Children No way. The hundred is there. The child is made of one hundred. The child has a hundred languages a hundred hands a hundred thoughts a hundred ways of thinking of playing, of speaking. a hundred, always a hundred ways of listening of marveling, of loving a hundred joys for singing and understanding a hundred worlds to discover a hundred worlds to invent a hundred worlds to dream. The child has a hundred languages (and a hundred hundred hundred more) but they steal ninety-nine. The school and the culture separate the head from the body. They tell the child to think without hands to do without head to listen and not to speak to understand without joy to love and to marvel only at Easter and Christmas. They tell the child to discover the world already there and of the hundred they steal ninety-nine. They tell the child that work and play reality and fantasy science and imagination sky and earth reason and dream are things that do not belong together. And thus they tell the child that the hundred is not there. The child says “No way – The hundred is there.” What hundred ways can you see beautiful in the actions of a child today? It's a wonderful task to set about doing. Author: Lydia Criss MaysFounder & CEO, See Beautiful |
See beautiful in yourself.
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