75 Valentines

This Valentine's Day was filled with lots of love.

Before I left for India, our HALO Center co-director, Chelsea, and I did a project with kids in Kansas City as part of our HALO art exchange. The kids painted what love means to them, while also writing about love and their lives in Kansas City. I took the artwork with me to India, where I gave all the paintings and poems to the kids here at Ashirvad. Today we did the same project here in India, and I will bring it back to share with the kids in Kansas City. They were so excited to know that they were getting a piece of artwork that came from the other side of the world.

Some of the poems written by the kids in Kansas City:

"Love is within the heart
Through pain and struggles,
Some days you can't feel love
but love comes from many places
even from a piece of paper from a person in America."
- Jacorey Leek

"I am 14 years old and LOVE all people. Love to me is a bunch of feeling mixed all together. Love is a feeling everyone needs and wants."
-Markisha Webb

"My name is Tenesha. I live in Kansas City. And my picture means peace, love and care. Love comes from the heart."
-Jemesha Webb

"Love is shared and connects hearts from one person to another. It has no color, no boundaries, no taste or smell. But has such a powerful feeling that can be experienced by many miles and miles away, or as close as the person standing next to you!!"
-Colleen Innis. (Caretaker from Front Porch Alliance.)