Dear Reader
My name is Cassaundra Lee Grakist Burdeshaw. I am a 36 year old American woman living in the Netherlands. In the 8 years I've lived in Europe I've learned many things, including how to teach English as a second language to children.
As a young adult I went through some very hard times in my life, not limited to the 3 years I spent living on the streets. I learned many things I am today not proud of including begging, cheating and stealing to survive. Ill never forget the first time I went "Dumpster Diving" for food. There was a local pizza restaurant where at the end of the day the left over food would either be taken home by the employees or thrown in the dumpster behind the shop. I remember walking there with a small group of other homeless people and seeing that large dirty grey metal container, and the stench of garbage, rotting food, rotting paper. Just that all around yuck of pieces of modern life thrown away. With my foot in the hand of one of my friends I climbed into the dumpster and looked for something "fresh" something thrown away that day. I did find some pieces of pizza and we were able to share them among the lot of us. It was a strange feeling, elation because we could eat (hadn't eaten in days) and yet disgust from being in the garbage dumpster and picking food from there.
These are the moments that I remember. Unfortunately in those days I had nowhere to turn to. Now I'm 36, I own an adorable little house in the Netherlands with my husband and lovely daughter who is almost 3. I volunteer working with horses and handicapped and I teach English as a second language, all of which I do with children.
See, children are the adults of the future. It sounds obvious but most of us don't think about that. We get caught up in living lives that are challenging and sometimes even overwhelming and we forget just what kind of nurturing children need to flourish and to grow into positive productive adults. It is the positive product adults that help us to improve the world we live in, and our world needs a good bit of improving. So we've got to start now. It starts with one person.
One person has to stand up and say I'm not going to tolerate this anymore. I am going to take action to effect positive change in the world around me. Then follows the tickle down effect, one person begins the change and like a wave others follow. First one or two, then tens or twenties, then hundreds, until you have a movement that effects positive change in the lives of everyone it touches.
Me? I'm just one woman. I'm not rich. I'm not a hero. I'm not extraordinary. I'm just like you. I want to give my family a good life; I want my children to grow up happy and healthy.
I also want to help give these beautiful children from Shining Faces and ICMC a chance, a chance to make a change in their lives; the chance to grow up and be positive productive adults that can help to effect positive change in the lives of others.
Will you help me help them? Please?
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