Cesar Chavez as seen by Octavia Ocampo.

As you know, Cesar Chavez is the American Farm Worker who was a Labor Leader and Civil Rights Worker for the American Farm Worker.  Along with Delores Huerta he founded the United Farm Workers Union which gave collective bargaining rights to the men and women who work in the fields to harvest your food.

He was born on March 31, 1927 and passed on April 23, 1993.

Portrait of LaCausa

Please click on an image to enlarge the area so you can clearly see what I am talking about.

I want to give you a close look at this print which hangs in Sister Nancy's office.  It is by Octavia Ocampo.  It shows what at first appear to be human skulls, but upon closer examination you see the are human beings placed to look like skulls. The farm workers have long been the neglected in our country.  Would you work in a field in the blazing sun all day?  What if you had absolutely no choice?  Farm workers are some of the poorest of the poor and a hand up is not the same as a hand out.

  

The farm workers cause was a very long and while Chavez tried to keep it peaceful with his Ghandi philosophy, it did not always turn out that way.

I now leave you to study this print and see if you are as moved by this work as I was.  When you eat your salad tonight or your veggies tomorrow, think of Cesar and the millions of farm workers who are responsible for getting it to your table.

Just a note to let you know.

Just want to let my friends know that I will not be participating in the SCAP Walk in the Garden which is this Saturday.  I raised my money, but in the process became disenchanted with the process.  After much deliberation I want to say that the Southern Colorado AIDS Project, while a worthy endeavor, is no longer a fit for me.  I will continue to do the Social Luncheons once a month, but there is where my allegiance will end.
I wish them well and my best to all the clients.  Better days ahead I am sure.
There is an old saying I learned at my mother's knee..."It isn't whether you win or lose, but how you play the game."  I choose to take the high road.

I am about to go to 10,000 readers.

I just checked to see how many readers I have on this blog and I see 9,999.  That does not mean there are that many people out there who are seperately signed up to read it.  That means my blog has been visited that many times since the inception.  I have about 30 people who read it on a regular basis though not every day, according to my stats.  Then there are those who pop in on occasion.  This is the first month I have had 1000 hits.
So this makes me happy. And happy at my house is good.  The kids are back from Grand Junction and today is moving day.  Hope this works out the way I have it planned.

If it was fun last year, it will probably be fun this year!

To donate for my team and I online go here!
I have had a few people show interest in walking with me at the AIDS Walk in the Garden.  The boy cousins may make it up for that.  Sure hope so.  But a couple people at church are entertaining ideas of tagging along with me.  And it seems the first thing they want to know is "Is it fun?"  Well, I have to say it sure is, for me anyway.
First I get to raise money for a cause that is very dear to my heart.  I also get to tell people what AIDS is and why it is important that I raise money for this particular cause.  All the money we raise in Pueblo, stays in Pueblo. Not Colorado Springs.   We were given a choice of what to use our money for, no strings attached.  Linda, John and I immediately decided we could use it to pay some ones light bill, or co pays, or any number of things like that, but there is a fund for that.  So we decided to be very selfish!  We wanted to have fun!
Now, selfish is not really what I am about, but you know that!  The second Tuesday of every month, I fix us all a lunch.  Sometimes there are only about 15 of us, but a cookout in the park will bring out 40 or more.  I fund the food myself which leaves us more money for other things.  After the lunch we all load up and go some where fun.  Miniature golf, the zoo, museum, bowling and last month we dined and Soup or Salad (paid for out of our funds) and then off to the movie.  See, education does not always have to take place in a formal setting.  For some of our clients this is the only outlet they have.  Before we lucked into this money, I would just do a social luncheon.  That was good, but it was rather sterile if you know what I mean.  We hold this in a conference room and then set and visit.  Getting the picture?  Plastic tables, steel chairs, microwave and paper plates.  Acceptable, but not near as much fun as a picnic at the Nature Center.  I work hard for my money and enjoy feeding people, but I can not afford the little extras that this money buys.

And, if you have never walked in the Garden of the Gods, in Colorado Springs, you do not know what you are missing.  The walk is October 8 and registration begins at 8:00.  When that is over Richard will do a little pep talk up there on his stage and we will all cheer and then we are fired up to go.  I love that walk.  I feel so close to God up there among those boulders.  How any one place could hold so much grandeur amazes me.  And the only man made parts are the walk ways.  All the scenery and the beautiful blue sky are just the way God threw them down all those many years ago. 
If you are just wanting a walk, come join me, but remember I am very competitive and it will be my goal this year to start dead last and finish in the top 10.  Oh, wait!  I did that last year!  Maybe this year I will start first and finish last.  NOT!
So, if you are thinking about donating to a worthy cause this year, look my way.  I know we are a small corner of the world, but this small corner sure needs a bright spot occasionally and that is what this money does.  We won't change the world and we are not trying to.  We are just a bunch of people trying to make the best of a bad situation and bring a smile to lives where there is not a lot to smile about.  And you know what?  It helps.  It builds self esteem so one of our clients has gone back to school to get her degree dispite a mountain of adversity.  Several come just to see their friends.  Sometimes by making people take the first step, they begin a journey to a way better place.

Please think about donating to me and my little band of forgotten people.  And know how very grateful me and my little corner of the world will be.  God Bless!

to donate to us online go here!