This past Christmas season was very special for me and Knitting
Peace. Mainly because I finally had the opportunity to stay in Bolivia for the
holidays, which up to know I usually spent in Los Angeles, selling our goods
and participating in gift fairs. However this year was different, I spent it
here, with my team!
We were all very excited, and although I couldn’t put
together the celebration my girls deserved with a tree, Santa, champagne,
gifts, etc (let’s not forget the girls are in a jail), I was able to go into
the jail during non visiting hours and have a special intimate gathering with
my team, where we shared tea, chocolate milk, Christmas Paneton and cookies. It was the first time in a long time we had
the opportunity to gather around a table and chat.
I started off the gathering by sharing my gratitude with
them for all of their hard work, diligence, perseverance and inspiration. I
experienced tremendous growth in each one, on a personal and team level this
year, and am extremely grateful for all of their effort and support. Each team member received a Paneton and
chocolate milk to share with their children on Christmas day, which they
greatly appreciated. I also gifted them pictures I had taken of them throughout
the years of working together, which they asked me to write an inscription on.
Towards the end of our sweet meal, the girls surprised me with
a showering of gratitude and beautifully spoken words of excitement for what is
to come, love for the work that we do, lessons received, and mountains of
joy. Each woman shared freely what
Knitting Peace has meant to them, and all that they had achieved. In that
moment I was able to perceive a group of women sitting in their power, and I almost
forgot that I was in a jail. I realized that each and every woman sitting
around that table was free; in their hearts and in their minds they experienced
the freedom to be in peace and outside of the limitations of the walls of that jail.
~Namaste
