Last summer, during a storm that blew over the plains, the winds in Omaha reached 110 miles per hour. These storms left destruction everywhere. Large trees stuck out of roofs, branches blocked roads, stop lights were dark and power was not restored to all residents for over ten days. The routine of daily life was upset, and people became anxious as they coped with the unexpected, the unpleasant and the unwelcome aftereffects.

A week after the storm, we began the Project Welcome Sudanese Refugee Community summer school for our Sudanese refugee children. Our network of volunteers works in an inner-city school without central air. Setting things up in 95-degree heat was difficult, but slowly the classrooms came together. Meanwhile, at the Project Welcome pantry, our social worker discovered that the abandoned school we work in was flooded during the storm and reeked of mold so badly that we needed to move out because of the health hazard.

This confluence of scenarios is just a normal day in the life of Project Welcome Sudanese Refugee Community. Working with the poor introduces one to the precariousness of being poor. My book, Living a Spirituality of Action: A Woman’s Perspective is written from the perspective of trying to do one’s best to respond in some way to the needs of the poor. This “doing one’s best” can make life quite messy, but those who work with the Project Welcome Community keep coming back to do more.
Too often we think that we need to be rich, powerful or connected to make a difference. In Living a Spirituality of Action women are invited to examine their gifts, take a good look at the real needs that they see in the world and get involved in meeting those needs.

For some, this may mean exploring volunteer or career options possible through agencies already in existence; others might be called to meet a particular need that hasn’t been addressed before. In either case, there is no doubt that ordinary women willing “to do something” can change the world.

It is in “mothering” the world that children will be fed and educated, families will be stabilized, babies will be healthy and society will act for the common good.

Join women in living and acting to change the world. Share your experiences of trying to change your corner of the world by clicking on Contact Us. We’ll post some stories here.