Peace quilt creators and designers, Carol and Chuck Vanlue, once again supported children's inspiring ideas for making the world a more peaceful place. How? In two weeks they readied a mini version of the larger butterfly quilt to fit into my carry-on luggage for Costa Rica. Why? They knew that Costa Rican children might need a tangible sign for peace to understand the challenge of gathering one million visions of peace. (My suitcase was just too small for the original queen-sized quilt.)
It worked. I was able to share the peace-visions project with the school children in La Fortuna by displaying the mini quilt. With the help of Mariangel and her brother Leonardo who held the quilt and loudly read the English words, "Meet Me at the Peace Park," I spoke to the other elementary children(ages 4-12) who had just finished dancing for our Overseas Adventure Travel group. Our guide, Victor, interpreted. He invited these 16 other children to join others in the world to further peacemaking by writing visions-of-peace postcards to Oprah Winfrey. They had never heard of Oprah, but they clearly understood peace and wanted to create peace visions. I left stamped, Oprah-addressed postcards for each child. Mui Bien, teachers and children at San Francisco Elementary!
Who will they influence? Me, for one. I was "taken" with their country of beauty and purpose...and with their pura-vida attitudes. In the land of Blue Morpho and Owl Butterflies, no standing army since 1948, the Rosette Spoonbill and multitudinous multiple-named herons, clean water, zip lines over canopied jungles, and eco-friendly tourist destinations, I felt healthy and relaxed. Even the Bullet Ant, the seven-foot Boa Constrictor and the poisonous red frog seemed quite lovely...from a distance.
Mainly, I was drawn to the giggling, gracious children who inspired conversations for peace by simply being welcoming presences at their local school on a Saturday, of all things. Picture a smiling child confidently taking your hand, introducing herself, and leading you on a tour of her school...all while attempting to initiate a Spanish/English conversation. Thank you, Mariangel. You are one great 9-year-old hostess and a doer of peace already.
I also thank certain "doer" adults who just seem to "get it. Seeing the bigger vision of spreading peace, the Vanlues, "flew into action" to get that visual aid ready for traveling into wee Mariangel's receptive heart and hands. Eight digital pics taken of the front and back of the original butterfly quilt were printed on eight fabric pieces and then quilted together to form an over-sized pictorial representation. Now that it has traveled to Coast Rica, its softly reflective colors will continue to remind me of the "spirit and soul" of a peaceful Central American country with a newly elected President named Laura. First woman to hold this office! (I even brought a poster home...carefully removed from a telephone pole by a new friend...)
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