One of the guiding principles of Something New is that we consider and respond to the needs in front of us. In just the last 15 days, we have:

• Mourned the loss of 37 people who were killed and 79 wounded in El Paso, Dayton, San Francisco, Southaven and Brooklyn due to an uprising of racially motivated violence 
• Cried with the children of immigrants begging to see their parents after ICE raided poultry plants in Mississippi
• Remembered the life and death of Michael Brown and the protests that followed his shooting in Ferguson five years ago
• Marked the 2-year anniversary of Heather Heyer’s death at the hands of a white supremacist in Charlottesville

What we’ve done so far

Seven years ago we started New Way with one goal in mind: to train people to effectively and peacefully handle conflict. Since it started, New Way has grown from two trainers who trained our volunteers to a team of diverse peacemakers with over eighty years of combined experience. Our team includes lawyers, corporate executives, a former trainer from the Southern Poverty Law Center, life coaches and educators. In the last few years, we have led workshops across the country to train:   

• men and women released from prison transitioning back to life
• teams struggling to work through cultural boundaries
• students reconciling after instances of physical altercations
• youth seeking healthy alternatives to juvenile detention  
• groups divided from a “romantic” relationship gone bad 
• educators teaching in diverse schools and classrooms 
• and everything in between

What do we do now?

As we have considered the best ways to respond to our country’s current situation, we believe that love and reconciliation are the best answers. We also believe that, especially in the face of what seem to be HUGE, systemic issues, we cannot turn a blind eye. Even though we can’t change everything, that doesn’t excuse us from doing something. We see  a pressing need for New Way–the training branch of our organization–to expand and reach more people and places. Throughout the years, we have seen New Way workshops transform communities, schools, teams, and lives. And we strongly believe New Way will play a role in helping our country heal and move forward.

What we do best is: 

• Equip communities traumatized by violence with tools for healing and reconciliation
• Facilitate dialogue with people of opposing mindsets
• Train leaders who want to organize and educate others

Be a part of the rEVOLution

There is much more work ahead for us. That’s why as of Fall 2019, New Way will officially serve in its own capacity. While Ronald Smith (New Way’s founder) will remain on Something New’s staff, New Way will now have its own website focused on providing workshops, keynote speeches and trainings across the country.

Ronald and his team are mobilizing. They are ready to go to the hard places, the uncomfortable places, and places with conflict, to teach healing and reconciliation. Like Ronald and the New Way team, we believe  that the principles of love will change the world.   

Be a part of the rEVOLution: check out New Way’s website and follow on social media to bring the rEVOLution  to your organization and community.

On my last trip home from Peru, my travel buddy asked, “What’s the first thing you’re going to eat when you get home?”

“Water,” I said. “I just want water. I want water.” 

I got off the plane and drank water out of the water fountain, and then I got home and took a hot shower and later exercised and took another long shower. Then I drank water. And I took the kids swimming. In water. I just wanted water – because I could. Of all the creature comforts, that’s what I missed most.

These trips always put me in touch–acutely–with the freedoms I take for granted. Everything from being able to turn on the faucet and have reliably clean water come out to having the opportunity to build the life I want rather than just survive until the next meal. I don’t feel guilty about the freedoms I enjoy, but I do feel a deep, personal drive to use the abundant gift in service of others. 

Step one: The fireworks. 

It just so happens that this particular visit fell on Peruvian Independence Day. While countries celebrate the concept on many different days, they all mark a hard-earned freedom from an oppressive, seemingly-more-powerful nation. It made me think about what the whole idea of “freedom” means for these ladies. Each has fought hard to escape a very real, tangible oppressor with a name. But the first day of freedom is only the very first step. Just the beginning.

It’s invaluable. It’s so incredibly good. Every Independence Day earns its fireworks. And yet. It’s just the first step–the very beginning–of creating a new nation or a new life. 

Step two: The real work begins.

Breaking away from an established government means leaving behind a foundation—however shaky or abusive or unfair—to face life on the rocky, twisty roads of uncertainty.

For our mamas, it’s not just the oppressor with a name and a face who keeps these ladies down. The entire system seems designed to keep poor, uneducated young women forever poor and uneducated. That means they get their education from life and grow up really quickly–becoming mothers before they’re ready–and often through violent circumstances. Then, adding insult to injury, they often have to rely on their aggressors for provision for their kids. If they do make it out, they’re often working 6-7 days a week for 12 hours at a time. And on the uncomfortable early days of facing the newness and unknownness of what’s ahead, there’s a comfort in the something that’s behind.

And so, we continue. 

The work today and every day is to fight for freedom from the things that caused them to be in those oppressive relationships in the first place. We also fight for opportunity–so they can provide for themselves and their families. Because what good is the glamorous idea of a new government or a new life if you still can’t feed your family? 

Step three through infinity: Build.

These mamas have fought and continued. And now, we must build. Yes, freedom is distance–both physical and mental–from the oppressive life you know you don’t want. It’s also the ability to build the one you do–on a new, solid foundation. It’s the simple joys that come with having some stability.

It’s sitting around a table with friends eating lasagna for the first time. It’s getting your very first pair of glasses. 
For the first time, these mamas have people around them who love them and believe in them so much that they can dare to believe in themselves. And when your life is full of life and friendship and community, you don’t go running to fill it with something else. You’re already full. 

And so we build. We build community and friendship and stability. With each call. With each park day.  With each grocery run when the money has run out.  

Build with us.

Become a monthly sponsor. Help Celestina find a new home far from the constant threats and intimidation from her past life.  Support Erika as she works to give her teenage son Fernando access to a quality education and soccer program, two opportunities neither of them ever thought were possible. Contribute to Lucia’s education fund so that she can reach her childhood dream of becoming a flight attendant and provide for her family without worrying where her sons will get their next meal. Give Mariela the extra boost she needs to finish her accounting degree and show her young sons and sisters what it is possible.

With each gift, we show that we believe that the best thing we can do with the gift of our own freedom is sacrifice a little something for someone else’s.

Gwen Brown
Community Relations Director

Since we met Erika in January of 2018, a lot has changed. She is making enough money to support her oldest son Fernando (16). He lives with her now – something Erika never dreamed was possible!

“My dream has always been for my sons to be happy. I want to support Fernando to follow his dreams to play soccer and become an engineer. My other son wants to be a bus driver, so maybe I’ll have one engineer and one bus driver,” Erika said with a smile.

Last year Fernando was accepted into one of the most prestigious high schools in Cusco where he is working hard to pursue his dream of being an engineer. He also was invited to join a club soccer league. While Erika works day and night to provide for her family, the money she makes is only enough to cover their basic needs. At this point she cannot afford to pay Fernando’s school and soccer fees.

This is where our love comes in!

Erika, you are not alone. We stand with you. Your burdens are our burdens. Your dreams are our dreams. Your sons are our sons.

A simple donation (one-time or monthly) lets Erika know we stand with her. Let’s lift her load and help this mom-trepreneur–with her big heart and strong fight–spend less time working and more time with her beautiful sons.

$3000 can cover Fernando’s fees for his final two years of high school and give Erika the encouragement she needs to move forward. 
Donate HERE and apply your donation to “Fernando’s Soccer and School Fund.” Also, please share Erika’s story and our goal with other friends that might want to support. Any amount (monthly or one-time) will go a long way in changing this family’s life!

Here’s what’s happening in Peru on this World Refugee Day

Since 2017, Peru has offered Venezuelans temporary residency, work permits, and access to state-run healthcare. Peru is now home to an estimated 800,000 Venezuelans, but as immigration has risen, so have fears that migrants lower wages and increase crime. Peru’s government announced this week that everyone entering the country must have a passport and visa. Since the cost of a Venezuelan passport is roughly four times the monthly minimum wage, this amounts to an insurmountable economic barrier to most Venezuelans. Still, many make the journey–legally or otherwise–to escape the economic collapse and starvation that are currently plaguing Venezuelans.

We can’t change the whole world, but we can change Angelo and Zeidi’s

Angelo and Zeidi are millennials like many of us, living in Lima, Peru. But, unlike most of us, they’ve had to face some unimaginable decisions, including fleeing their home country for the benefit of their eighteen month-old son, Samuel.

With the support of Something New, Angelo and Zeidi have found stable housing, a steady income, and the beginning of a new life. Most of Angelo’s family is with them in Lima, but they worry about Zeidi’s family. Her mom is responsible for caring for her own aging mother and the whole family is still in Venezuela without passports. They have talked about leaving as the situation gets worse day by day, but Peru’s new passport rules cause an additional barrier.

To us, it’s personal

In this global humanitarian crisis, Angelo and Zeidi’s family are not nameless and faceless. For us, it’s personal. While Angelo and Zeidi’s circumstances are worlds apart from ours as millennials in the U.S., their dreams for the future are the same. They want to help others too. They are the kind of people who would spend a spring break on a service trip too.  

With the small income that Angelo makes as an Uber driver in Lima, they have committed to sending 600 soles (about $120) a month to Zeidi’s family no matter what. That way, the family can eat one meal a day.

We think you might be one of those people

If you are a millenial, I know first-had that you may not have much, but a monthly donation of $5.00 or $10.00 would help buy rice and other food staples. Since you’re here, reading this blog, caring about these people across the world, we think you might also be one of those people  who would give up a cup of coffee a month, too.

If so, click HERE to support!

John Gainey
Something New Board Member

Lisa went on Nuevo Camino’s Medical Trip to Peru this Spring. As a dental hygienist, she served with the women of Nuevo Camino in Cusco and with the people of the San Juan village alongside a team of medical professionals.
Learn more about Medical Service trips to Peru HERE!