When I mention that I have traveled to Vietnam, I am acutely aware of still-festering wounds endured by many. Although the “Vietnam War,” as we call it in America, ended before I was old enough to comprehend the intricacies of international politics, I grew up aware of the conflicting rhetoric and high emotion that surrounded…Read more Grappling with the American/Vietnam War Part 1 (of 2)
orphans
Let It Be Me – Response to Terrorism in Kenya
Horror still clutches my heart like an apparition from beyond the grave. “It is over,” Kenyan President Kenyatta assured the world on Tuesday. Some of the perpetrators are dead. Hopefully the rest are amongst eleven people detained in a sweep of Kenya’s exit points. And yet the echoes of their evil acts reverberate long after they…Read more Let It Be Me – Response to Terrorism in Kenya
Offering – Pondering the Lives of Mother Teresa Sisters
Kenya, 2001 (somewhere near Nairobi's second largest slum) Blinking in the transition from blazing equatorial sunlight to sacred shadows, we hesitate in the foyer. The sanctuary stretches before us, an ordination service for new Sisters already in progress. Rows of simple benches packed to capacity march along concrete floors. I spot an open space in…Read more Offering – Pondering the Lives of Mother Teresa Sisters
Orphans in Nepal
Nepal is world-renowned for towering majestic mountains, fertile terraced fields, and verdant valleys. Nepal is no less than the magical, enticing destination that Tourist Guidebooks claim. But Nepal also subsists amongst the ten poorest countries in the world. Until a decade ago, she was the world’s only Hindu Kingdom; now secularized, karma, fatalism, dharma, and the resulting caste system still…Read more Orphans in Nepal
Colleen Briggs Images & Writing 