Welcome to the Con Pazion blog! I feel so honored to share this journey with you.
For me it feels like a miracle is happening. In April 2017, I left my home country the Netherlands to move to Perú. It was a longtime dream for me to live abroad and to help a developing country grow. I found a job at the Dutch school in Lima to ensure I could pay my rent and my bills and then I quit everything in Holland. Deep inside I knew I had to do this. At this point the thoughts of starting my own project on a long-term had crossed my mind, but it wasn’t my main focus. I grabbed my cat, said farewell to my loved ones and took off.
I followed my heart.
Once I arrived in Perú, I was confronted with the disparity in social classes in Perú. It is so extreme. I found it very difficult to see, to experience. I felt I had to do something. Not later, but NOW. To deal with my feelings about what I was seeing and to help the lowest class of society, I started volunteering in the slums of Manchay.
This was three weeks after I first arrived in Perú.
The moment I stepped out of the bus in the slums, I felt like I had found my calling. It is my mission in life to make a difference for the disadvantaged children. I was touched by their smiles, the circumstances they are in, their stories. But above all, I was touched by the deep intense sadness in their eyes. It hit me straight in the heart.
I couldn’t just sit and watch.
I can honestly say this experience is sometimes overwhelming, it’s huge for “just a girl” to handle. But I’m determined to fulfill my destiny and make a difference for these beautiful children. Because they deserve a real chance and we need to break the cycle of poverty.
In the beginning, it was just me with the kids on top of the hill. Practicing yoga or teaching English. It didn’t take long for me to realized I could do more for them by giving them a voice. I started sharing their stories and their circumstances in my Instagram story. That changed everything. Through my pictures I intend to share what I feel while being there. The love, the joy while teaching yoga, the pureness, the smiles but also the disgrace and the intense sadness.
I hope you do feel it.
Over the summer while traveling (I always have the best ideas while traveling) I wrote a plan to help the kids in a sustainable way. The first phrase was: ‘I have a dream.’ For the last six months of 2017, I started working hard, together with the fabulous Con Pazion team, towards the realization of our project. I feel humbled and blessed to work with such an amazing team.
Magic!
Now we’re about to make my dream come true. We're an officially registered charity now, and we can work on sustainable change for the children. We work towards the last sentence of my plan:
“Let’s change the world together.”
I believe we can do it.
But I can’t do it by myself. Are you with me? Will you stand up with me so we can give these children a real chance in life? Let’s change the world together!
Thank you so so much for being on this journey with me. It means the world to me.
Much love,
Leonie
“I alone can not change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”
