Hello, bloggers!
Rose and Sheila and I are back from nine full days in South America. When we arrived at the airport in Mendoza, Argentina, in the wine-growing region at the foot of the Andes, we were met by political leaders, TV cameras, news reporters, paparazzi, and more than 100 children with their teachers and umbrellas. It was incredible: being interviewed and being able to talk about what we were doing there. I felt like Elvis Presley!
We had about six Umbrellas for Peace projects, in all ways, shapes, and forms, and the children were so into it. We went to very affluent and very challenged neighborhoods where the schools were surrounded by barbed wire. But the culture of happiness and laughing and dancing and talking to the children, in all these places, was the same. They had written messages on their chalkboards, and they had me sign hundreds and hundreds of autographs and pose with them in I don’t know how many photos. We really brought our message to thousands of young people.
We visited political leaders as well: senators and mayors... I was made an honorary citizen of San Martiz, a city named after Saint Martin, the liberator of Venezuela, Chile, and Peru. We had great talks with their leadership and with Mendoza officials and leaders of other towns in the surrounding area.
We had a huge parade through the government building and the governor’s office, and then I painted large murals on the inside and outside walls of the Fantelli Winery, working together with many local artists. Then on Saturday they had a big lunch, where I was presented with the Grand Gold Medal that the winery had been awarded for one of their premier 2005 wines. It was a wonderful honor.
Earlier on there was another big lunch at their museum, with about 500 people in attendance. I donated paintings to their hospitals and their jails. Both of those institutions have great support systems from the ordinary people. We wanted to show our appreciation that we had as visitors and new members of their family for what they were doing. I announced the paintings of the jail by saying, “I never thought I would be happy to see my children go to jail, but these paintings are my children. I hope they change your world and bring peace, understanding, tolerance, hope, and love.” I thought the placement of these paintings was significant, because when you’re in the hospital, you don’t have control; much the same when you’re in jail. It’s an outreach to see how we can effect change through art.
A woman came up to me at one point and said they had 1,200 volunteers working in the jails in that whole state with the people, doing Umbrellas for Peace. And that there were 12,500 former inmates who were now peacemakers throughout the state. You just never know when you’re planting seeds. I always empower people to become peacemakers, but until they walk up and tell you what they’ve done, it’s hard to know what progress you’ve made. We had many of those kinds of stories.
And now the Fantelli family has formally announced that they are going to help underwrite the Umbrellas for Peace worldwide with all their partners around the world. We met with the Russians who import 5,000,000 liters of wine every month. We’re developing a logo, which is part of the non-profit Umbrellas for Peace programs, where these funds flow directly into the programs around the world. The Fantellis are such a special family. No matter where I go in the world, there is a longing for action and a demonstration for hope and love and tolerance. People are looking for some way to show how they can change the world, and the Fantellis share this dream.
When I was in Peru years ago, I was known as “Señor Loco.” If the world tells you something can’t be done, you’re Señor Loco. But I can say with great confidence that the work of peace is being done around the world. So now people come up to me and say, “We are now Señor and Señora Loco, too, and we can change world!”
Some people said to me this time, “Are you a preacher?” And I said, “I am a preacher of empowerment. That is my message.”
When we left, the mayor was carrying our suitcases, and an entourage of children was singing and wishing us Bon voyage! There was snow on the mountains. It was a beautiful place, it was like a dream, it was an incredible journey.
So muchos gracias to all our South American friends. We’ll have pictures from our trip up on the blog soon.
Matt