<![CDATA[World Family Foundation - Martha\'s Pilgrimage Blog]]>Sun, 24 Mar 2024 01:57:00 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[California Pilgrims Recap]]>Thu, 24 Sep 2015 00:32:53 GMThttp://worldfamilyfnd.org/marthas-pilgrimage-blog/california-pilgrims-recapPicture
Since I couldn’t travel to Spain to walk the Camino de Santiago with my fellow board members Edie, Kim and Therese and sponsor Saiyeeda as I originally planned, I decided to walk my own local Camino and have people sponsored my walk.  Much to my surprise, not only did people want to support the walk, but also be a part of it. So, on one of the warmest days in August, twenty brave pilgrims (ages ranging from 7 to 70 years old) showed up at the hiking trail in Thousand Oaks, California to walk 20-kilometers in order to raise funds to build new classrooms for Prashanti International School (PIS).  My heart was full of joy when I arrived to the hiking trail and saw most of the local pilgrims already gathered at the parking lot laughing and having a good time despite the heat, the early hour on a Sunday moring and the two hour drive it took some people to get to the meeting place.  The walk was a powerful and inspiring opportunity to unite as a community and raise awareness about education being the key in breaking the cycle of poverty.  For some, the walk was difficult because the weather was so hot and they hadn’t hiked in a long time.  However, knowing it was for such an important cause made it all worth it.  We all enjoy seeing familiar faces, meeting new people and getting some exercise in the process.   At the beginning of the walk, each pilgrim was given a photograph of a child for whom they were walking the Camino and a scallop shell (the shell is seen on signs along the Camino de Santiago in order to guide pilgrims along the way). The grooves in the shell, which meet at a single point, represent the various routes pilgrims traveled, eventually arriving at a single destination. The single destination – or purpose – for both groups of pilgrims walking the Camino in Spain and California is to provide quality education in a loving and safe environment for all the children at PIS.  The local pilgrims loved seeing the smiling faces of the children in the photos and were grateful to have chosen the local Camino to help a child have a brighter future.

Hugs,
Martha
]]><![CDATA[California Camino Pilgrimage ]]>Mon, 31 Aug 2015 00:24:47 GMThttp://worldfamilyfnd.org/marthas-pilgrimage-blog/october-31st-2015Friends and sponsors of World Family Foundation (WFF) joined Board member Martha Lira in a local Camino in California to raise funds to help build more classrooms for Prashanti International School (PIS). The 20-kilometer walk was a powerful and inspiring opportunity to unite as a community to raise awareness about education being the key to breaking the cycle of poverty. At the beginning of the 20-kilometer walk, each pilgrim was given a photograph of a child for whom they were walking the local Camino and a scallop shell (the shell is seen on signs along the Camino de Santiago in Spain in order to guide pilgrims along the way). The grooves in the shell, which meet at a single point, represent the various routes pilgrims traveled, eventually arriving at a single destination. The single destination – or purpose – for both groups walking the Camino in Spain and California is to provide quality education in a loving and safe environment for all the children at PIS.  

Love,
Martha
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