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	<title>Off The Mat Into The World</title>
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		<title>2011 Global Seva Challenge: Remembering to Breathe</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Monday, February 13th, was our ninth day on our 2011 Global Seva Challenge immersion trip in Haiti and the second of a two day “rest” in middle of our trip. The previous day had been spent inhaling the color, smells, and music of Carnival in Jacmel. Monday we planned to spend hiking up to Bassin Bleu–a series of waterfalls and pools in the mountains above the city&#8211;and lounging on the beach in Jacmel. In order to reach the falls, we transferred into pick-up trucks, which had been modified with benches built into the beds. The necessity of the pick-up trucks [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/2011-global-seva-challenge-remembering-to-breathe/</link>
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		<title>OTM Founder Hala Khouri on EYI, Serving Urban Youth, and the 20-Year Bloods and Crips Truce</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Off the Mat, Into the World’s Empowered Youth Initiative is a weeklong, in-field training, working to reverse the disruptive cycles facing urban and suburban youth in Los Angeles. We bugged Hala Khouri, head of OTM’s Empowered Youth Initiative, about the program she helped craft, the amazing partners she’s collaborating with, and the special event participants will attend this year. (It’s filling up fast. Sign up here.) Off the Mat, Into the World: What is the Empowered Youth Initiative? Hala Khouri:  This is a 7-day on-the ground training for people who are interested in working with under served communities. We’ve teamed [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/otm-founder-hala-khouri-on-eyi-serving-urban-youth-and-the-20-year-bloods-and-crips-truce/</link>
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		<title>Our Global Seva Challenge Trip to Haiti: Photos!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Last year, through our 2011 Global Seva Challenge, dozens of incredible men and women raised $376,000 for on-the-ground projects and organizations in Haiti. The money raised will support efforts in job creation, micro lending, sustainable development, and child services in the country. See here for a complete list of our partners. Last month, OTM founders, Seane Corn and Suzanne Sterling, took a group of  our Global Seva participants (those who completed the challenge by raising $20,000!) on a two week immersion to meet the people and groups their hard work will support. Luckily, the talented Matt Peyton, from Bluevine Collective [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/our-global-seva-challenge-trip-to-haiti-photos/</link>
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		<title>2011 Global Seva Challenge: Spellbound at Haiti&#8217;s Carnival</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Carnival in Haiti is bustling with colors and sounds, and nowhere are colors more vivid than in the Southern seaside town of Jacmel. The city’s paper mache artisans design new costumes every year for the parade: devils, dinosaurs, animals, buildings, and politicians! Traditionally the costumes are created to poke fun at political figures, corporations, policemen, bankers, and other authority figures. During the day our 2011 Global Seva Challenge group walked around, looking at all of the different paper mache masks and costumes. What I loved was that the creation process was not hidden. There were no surprises. The artisans are [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/2011-global-seva-challenge-spellbound-at-haitis-carnival/</link>
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		<title>2011 Global Seva Challenge: Looking in the Mirror, Discovering Truth</title>
		<description><![CDATA[These past couple days have presented our 2011 Global Seva Challenge group with a huge opportunity to grow and strengthen our sense of self. We have laughed as a group, cried as a group, and our hearts have hurt deeply as a group. We are on the path of discovering our individual faith with the support of each other. Our Seva group feels invincible. As we move through our journey of service in Haiti, our bond today is stronger than ever as we continue to truly bear witness to who we are on the inside. As we continue to dive [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/2011-global-seva-challenge-looking-inward-discovering-truth/</link>
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		<title>2011 Global Seva Challenge: Putting Down Roots in Haiti</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The group came together for a much needed yoga practice this morning. Our physically drained bodies needed this hour of restorative movements to start our day and help us release some of the tension that has built up during the trip. Shortly after, it was off our mats and onto the road to Fondwa. We arrived mid-morning just in time for the hot sun to greet us. We broke ground in deep red soil with careful swings of a pick axe. Through the 2011 Global Seva Challenge, Off the Mat has funded a service project through the Association of Peasants [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/2011-global-seva-challenge-putting-down-roots-in-haiti/</link>
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		<title>2011 Global Seva Challenge: Remaking Haiti&#8217;s Land</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Haiti’s countryside is stark and beautiful. Steep hills are cut with rows of crops against a perfect landscaped sky. This magical setting conceals the long struggle that Haitian farmers and rural communities have endured throughout history. At times, they&#8217;ve been enslaved, tortured, forgotten, and exploited. But as I dig my hands in this soil, among the weeds and fire ants, I can feel the opportunity for rebirth in every single moment. Before I arrived in Haiti, I was inspired by the courage of thousands of Haitian farmers who marched through the streets and burned 400 tons of hybrid, genetically modified, and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/2011-global-seva-challenge-remaking-haitis-land/</link>
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		<title>2011 Global Seva Challenge: Together in Service</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Today is Day 4 of the 2011 Global Seva Challenge immersion trip, and it feels like we are home. Not home as we know it, but we&#8217;ve arrived into the space, culture, and beauty of Haiti. What we continue to witness in each moment are powerful and true feelings about what it means to take your yoga off your mat. Each day, we are watching a country put itself back together, which is not easy. For them to do. Or for us to witness. But the love that this Global Seva group has embodied to support each other moving through [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/2011-global-seva-challenge-finding-magic-in-the-garbage/</link>
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		<title>2011 Global Seva Challenge: Meet Vladimir</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Meet Vladamir: a successful Haitian news anchor, whose life and physical appearance changed in the course of a few seconds 10 years ago. Vladamir, not a trained fireman or a medical professional, ran into a burning house to save the three children who were trapped inside. Without hesitation, he put the lives of others in front of his and was left with third degree burns covering 40% of his body. We have been in Haiti for more than a week now and we&#8217;ve visited several orphanages. When we ask the person who heads up the organization why they do what [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/2011-global-seva-challenge-meet-vladimir/</link>
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		<title>2011 Global Seva Challenge: Haiti school connects mind, body, and spirit of its students</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s Day 3 of the 2011 Global Seva Challenge “bare witness” tour of Haiti, and we are not only beginning to see the incredible things our donations are funding, but are seeing firsthand the strength of spirit within the Haitian people. We started our day with a meditation to check in on how we have been showing up since we arrived. What entered my mind was how the Haitians show up each day, full of pride for their country, love for their community, and a genuine warmth and gratitude for foreigners such as ourselves. Today we saw a seed that [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/2011-global-seva-challenge-haiti-school-connects-mind-body-and-spirit-of-its-students/</link>
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		<title>2011 Global Seva Challenge: Speaking Universal Languages</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Language can sometimes be a barrier in Haiti, as in many countries, but there are some languages that we can all understand. The language of love, of course, as well as the universal languages of music and art. They connect space, time, and culture. The city of Jacmel sings loudly about the concepts of music and art. Jacmel, known as the New Orleans of Haiti, is also rebuilding itself after a devastating natural disaster. I have been to New Orleans many, many  times. As I walked through the historic area of Jacmel today, it seemed vaguely familiar: the brightly painted buildings with iron [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/2011-global-seva-challenge-speaking-universal-languages/</link>
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		<title>2011 Global Seva Challenge: Can Art Heal the World?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Art is a language anyone can understand.  It crosses all race, religion, and social, economic, and political boundaries, and it unites people in a way that is truly magical. Art is also one of the most influential forms of inspiration on this earth (second only to music, in my opinion!) Now place art in the hands of children. Teach them to conceptualize and create art, and you get the feeling that you can change the world through their hands. That&#8217;s the way I felt today! The work that the people at the Art Creation Foundation for Children (ACFFC) in Jacmel, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/2011-global-seva-challenge-can-art-heal-the-world/</link>
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		<title>2011 Global Seva Challenge: The Road to Jacmel</title>
		<description><![CDATA[On the road again&#8230;The road to Jacmel was breathtaking. Little by little the tents, dust, garbage, chaos, and grey earth of Port-au-Prince gave way to lush greenery and brown earth suitable for farming. We traversed steep mountains, some of which were terraced for agriculture. The seaside town of Jacmel was in stark contrast to the city we&#8217;d just left&#8230;what we saw of the main street looked cheerful, tidy, and industrious.   We went straight to the Jacmel Children&#8217;s Center, one of the recipients of the funds we raised through the 2011 Global Seva Challenge. Mama Bonite, the founder of the children&#8217;s [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/2011-global-seva-challenge-the-road-to-jacmel/</link>
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		<title>2011 Global Seva Challenge: Finding My Own Perspective</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We hit the ground running today. It was Off The Plane, and Onto Haitian Soil. Day one of the 2011 Global Seva Challenge immersion trip has begun and here welcomes a change in the way I perceive Haiti. Seeing the land surrounded by blue ocean and meeting the locals with their honest smiles drew me further away from existing preconceived notions and closer to the reality of present day Haiti. Over the last year, my initial perception of Haiti has been influenced heavily by NPR reports, internet articles, CNN updates, Paul Farmer stories, and disaster relief-related news. All of this [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/2011-global-seva-challenge-finding-my-own-perspective/</link>
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		<title>2011 Global Seva Challenge: Hope Grows in the Central Plateau</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Today was big. It was Day 2 of our Global Seva Challenge immersion trip. The feeling of hopelessness from seeing the conditions of the tent camps shifted as we moved to the beauty of the Central Plateau, 90 minutes outside of Port-au-Prince. Here we witnessed the amazing work and impact of an organization called Fonkoze. The organization has been in Haiti for 16 years. They run a three-stage program that begins with Chimen Lavi Mi Vo (CLM), which translates to: path to a better life. This stage lasts for 18 months and consists of building self esteem, providing the poorest [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/2011-global-seva-challenge-hope-grows-in-the-central-plateau/</link>
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		<title>2011 Global Seva Challenge: Stepping Into Haiti</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We stepped off the plane in Port-au-Prince on a quiet Sunday morning, as if this massive city with all of its commotion, rubble, and pain was just rubbing the sleep out of its eyes and offering us a gentle welcome. It was Day 1 of our Global Seva Challenge immersion trip. The smell was not as overpowering as I had expected. It smells a lot like India. A mix of burning and spice with sewage and the trash that seems to be everywhere I look. Later our bus stops in the shadow of the destroyed national palace. This is a [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/2011-global-seva-challenge-stepping-into-haiti/</link>
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		<title>The Power of Community: Microfinance and Haiti</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Many Haitians lost everything in the devastating 2010 earthquake that crumbled buildings and lives. Even before the quake, however, poverty was endemic in Haiti, and those with already shaky foundations were that much more affected. As I set out on my own journey to learn about Haiti and connect with Haitians from afar—part of my commitment to raise funds for relief efforts through Off the Mat&#8217;s 2012 Global Seva Challenge—I was deeply affected by something I didn’t expect to see in Haiti: hope. Somehow, even Haitians who have lost what little they had to lose—homes, possessions, small businesses, crops—have not [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/the-power-of-community-microfinance-and-haiti/</link>
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		<title>What Can You Do to Help Us Help Haiti? A lot&#8230;Or a little.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This is an important time for us here on the OTM team because our Global Seva Challenge Haiti fundraising deadline is December 15th. Our yearly leadership program empowers and mentors yogis to raise $20,000 (no small feat!) for a different recipient country each year. To date, we&#8217;ve raised more than $2 million for organizations creating real impact around the world. This year, our focus is on Haiti, a country still reeling from the 2010 earthquake that rocked the nation’s already shaky infrastructure. Through this program, we&#8217;ll donate necessary funds and work with our local partner organizations on infrastructure, child services, and job creation. The participants of this year&#8217;s Seva Challenge [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/what-can-you-do-to-help-us-help-haiti-a-lot-or-a-little/</link>
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		<title>Meet the Staff: Leigh Ferrara</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Meet Leigh! She&#8217;s our one-woman communications department. What&#8217;s her secret? She&#8217;s fueled by tacos. Off the Mat, Into the World: Favorite pose? I know, it’s so cliché for a yoga org to ask this of our staff, but we had too. Right? Right. Leigh Ferrara: Viparita Dandasana. I could stay in that pose for eternity. And, also balasana. It&#8217;s the best. OTM: Best part about working at Off the Mat? LF: No question. It&#8217;s the people. Our founders, our staff, our regional and community leaders, our community members&#8230; Everyone is just incredible. It&#8217;s a movement/a ground swell of some of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/meet-the-staff-leigh-ferrara/</link>
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		<title>Photos of Week: #yogisoccupyLA</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Each week, we pluck a favorite pic from our (or our partners&#8217;/friends&#8217;) past and present albums to highlight. This week, we picked a bunch. Photog Laura Sharkey snapped some incredible shots of #yogisoccupyLA on Tuesday. See all of her work from the event here. We had trouble narrowing them down.]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/photos-of-week-yogisoccupyla/</link>
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		<title>Meet the Staff: Claire Williams</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Claire does all of the outreach to our incredible community. It&#8217;s an important job because our community is Off the Mat. And although Claire is, shall we say, buttoned up at the office, she&#8217;s got a wild side. Just get her to a dance party. No, really, you should. Off the Mat, Into the World: Favorite pose? I know, it’s so cliché for a yoga org to ask this of our staff, but we had too. Right? Right. Claire Williams: Natarajasana OTM: Best part about working at Off the Mat? CW: Cultivating, empowering, and sustaining a global community of inspirational [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/meet-the-staff-claire-williams/</link>
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		<title>Meet the Staff: Jocelyn Corbett</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We&#8217;re so excited to have Jocelyn on board. She manages our accounts and operations. No small task. Also, she likes cooking dessert over live volcanoes. Stoves are so conventional. Off the Mat: Favorite pose? Jocelyn Corbett: Trikonasana. Side body stretch? All day every day. OTM: Best part about working at Off the Mat? JC: Have you seen my coworker&#8217;s profiles? These ladies make it all worthwhile. OTM: Defining off-the-mat moment? Go! JC: At Wanderlust CA 2011, more than 500 people danced to Michael Franti at Seane Corn&#8217;s request: &#8220;Get off your mat, and get on someone else&#8217;s!&#8221; Opening up my [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/meet-the-staff-jocelyn-corbett/</link>
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		<title>Photo of the Week: Off the Mat, Onto the Street</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Each week, we pluck a favorite pic from our past and present albums to highlight. We love this photo. It has this &#8220;this is my mat; hear me roar for peace, unity, and love&#8221; type of sentiment to it. On Monday, nearly 200 yogis stepped onto Wall Street with our founder Seane Corn to add a yogi perspective to the already very alive dialogue and action of the NYC protests: &#8220;We are for 100% of truth, 100% of justice, and 100% of unity 100% of the time. That is our intention.&#8221; Were you there? We want to hear about your [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/photo-of-the-week-off-the-mat-onto-the-street/</link>
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		<title>Photo of the Week: Snapping Stunning Shots for Social Change</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Each week, we pluck a favorite pic from our past and present albums to highlight. This stunner was shot by the talented and social change-championing NYC photographer, J.T. Liss. He and our friends at YogaDork hit the road this summer, crossing state after state on their way to Wanderlust Festival in Tahoe. Along the way, J.T. snapped photos for change. 25% of all proceeds from the sale of J.T.&#8217;s pics goes to help us do the work we do around the globe. Thank you, J.T. and YogaDork! Think this highwayscape is as gorgeous as we do? You can purchase it right [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/photo-of-the-week-snapping-stunning-shots-for-social-change/</link>
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		<title>Meet the Staff: Sara Levine</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Sara takes care of all of our marketing needs. She also heli hikes on glaciers in her free time. Don&#8217;t we all? And on any given Sunday morning you can find her at Universal Cafe in San Francisco, mowing down on their toasted banana bread and pomme frittes. Yum! Off the Mat: Favorite pose? Sara Levine: Urdhva Mukha Svanasana. It’s a lovely reward after chaturanga. And my whole body feels happy in this pose. I feel strong, open, and lifted. OTM: Best part about working at Off the Mat? SL: Getting to witness yogis at the moment when their hearts break [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/meet-the-staff-sara-levine/</link>
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		<title>Photo of the Week: Rocking Out Tittibhasana in Jacmel</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Each week, we pluck a favorite pic from our past and present albums to highlight. Here, one of our Global Seva participants, Lisa Rueff, rocks out tittibhasana with the kids of Jacmel, Haiti. In June, Lisa brought US yogis to Haiti to begin building the Jacmel Children&#8217;s Center, an orphanage which will become home to 80 children in the country. The center is one of our Global Seva Challenge partners. Money raised through our program will be directed toward building efforts, and in February, during our trip to Haiti, we&#8217;ll finalize the construction of the orphanage. In June, Lisa practiced yoga with [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/photo-of-the-week-rocking-out-tittibhasana-in-jacmel/</link>
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		<title>Meet the Staff: Rebecca Rogers</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Rebecca is the engine behind our international leadership and humanitarian program, Global Seva Challenge. When she&#8217;s not tirelessly supporting our Seva participants to raise necessary funds for on-the-ground orgs in Haiti, she&#8217;s teaching yoga, striking pigeon pose, or indulging in some panna cotta. And we just found out that when she was a wee one, she was the wee voice behind a lot of big companies. Watch her bust out the FAO Schwarz song right here. Off the Mat: Favorite pose? I know, it’s so cliché for a yoga org to ask this of our staff, but we had too. Right? [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/meet-the-staff-rebecca-rogers/</link>
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		<title>My 9/11 Story: The Day That Shut Me Down and the Yoga That Woke Me Back Up</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I did not grow up a yogi. If my life had played out like I planned it to, it would look like this: senior executive in marketing; married with three kids; living in the suburbs; with a beach house on the Jersey Shore; marathon runner on the weekends; ultimately, burnt-out and resentful superwoman. Of course there is nothing wrong with this life plan; it just wasn’t mine. As I reflect on the day that changed my life, it’s a mixed bag. There is the trauma of 9/11/01, the grief of a lost parent, the anger, the thoughts around what wasn’t [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/my-911-story-the-day-that-shut-me-down-and-the-yoga-that-woke-me-back-up/</link>
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		<title>Empowered Youth Initiative 2011: There Are Words to Describe This</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The under-served communities in Los Angeles have a history. It’s one of racist bank lending and high profile gang violence. Its home state has one of the highest incarceration rates in the United States, and the youth in South LA are 1.6 times as likely as kids in other neighborhoods to face arrest and incarceration. It’s an understatement to say that this city needs resources. Thankfully, they have some. In April, during the first Off the Mat Empowered Youth Initiative, Seane, Suzanne, and Hala brought 18 women to spend a week with some of the amazing local leaders who are actively [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/empowered-youth-initiative-2011-there-are-words-to-describe-this/</link>
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		<title>Empowered Youth Initiative 2011: Me and Homeboy Industries</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I am sobbing outside the building of Homeboy Industries. My girlfriend is holding my hips, facing and grounding me as she lets me cry. We started our tour of the nonprofit with a delicious healthy Latino-inspired lunch at Homegirl Cafe. With a super clean industrial look and strong art on the wall, this could be just another fashionable LA establishment. But if you look carefully at the staff&#8211;if you know the history and what this place is really about&#8211;your imagination be taken over by stories of hardship, gang violence, and a different start in life written on our waitresses’ and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/empowered-youth-initiative-2011-me-and-homeboy-industries/</link>
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		<title>Global Seva 2011: Working for Jobs in Haiti</title>
		<description><![CDATA[How do you rebuild a country after a devastating earthquake? One with a pre-quake unemployment rate of 70% and a history of corrupt governments and exploitation? This has been the struggle facing Haiti since January 12, 2010. In the months following the quake, NGOs, corporations, and governments promised billions in funds. Tent cities went up, and organizations worked to provide basic resources. But reconstruction has been slow. The media wants to know where all the promised aid went. And the Haitian people still need long-term solutions. We’re thrilled to have this year’s Off the Mat Global Seva Challenge benefit Haiti. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/global-seva-2011-working-for-jobs-in-haiti/</link>
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		<title>Uganda One Year Later Part II: Dealing With Reverse Culture Shock, Finding Sustainable Activism</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Is my career important? What do perfect little neighborhoods look like? What am I doing with my life? These were the kinds of questions that I was running over in my head last February as I sat on a 24-hour flight back to Pennsylvania. I had just spent three weeks in Uganda with 21 amazing women on a Global Seva Challenge with Off the Mat, and I simply could not fathom returning to my “regular” life. Surprisingly my regular life elicited some initial feelings of relief after the day-long journey: I cried from immense gratitude that I lived in a [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/uganda-one-year-later-part-ii-dealing-with-reverse-culture-shock-finding-sustainable-activism/</link>
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		<title>Uganda One Year Later Part I: Making Changes</title>
		<description><![CDATA[As Off the Mat’s Seva trip to South Africa came to a close in February, I found myself reflecting on the year since I’ve returned from my own trip with OTM. Before leaving for Uganda in February of last year, I was unhappy with my life in New York. I was inspired by my Seva Challenge fundraising, and my new involvement with Off the Mat, but the rest of my life was not what I wanted it to be. I was sick of the city but felt stuck. I was unhappy with my teaching life and neighborhood but I couldn’t [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/uganda-one-year-later-making-changes/</link>
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		<title>Integrations</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Arriving back in the US has been a incredible experience. Each year our trips have been completely eye opening and life changing and this year was no exception. However the difference this year is that we were immersing ourselves in a culture that looks very similar to our own…from our hotel we could wander to the closest Waterfront mall to purchase Gucci handbags and Jimmy Choo shoes… yet each day we were choosing to enter into the intense poverty of the Cape Town Flats and to deeply engage with both the geographic as well as the mental and spiritual apartheid [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/integrations/</link>
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		<title>Apartheid &#8211; Up Close and Personal: A Healing Story of Truth, Reconciliation and Forgiveness</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I’ve come to love the term ‘healing story’. I first saw it in the beautiful memoir Waking, by Matthew Sanford. Waking recounts Matt’s trauma and transcendence following a tragic automobile accident that killed his father and sister and left him paraplegic. Matt describes healing stories as “stories we have come to believe that shape how we think about the world, ourselves, and our place in it….Healing stories guide us through good and bad times; they come together to create our own personal mythology, the system of beliefs that guide how we interpret our experience.” This is my South Africa healing [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/apartheid-up-close-and-personal-a-healing-story-of-truth-reconciliation-and-forgiveness/</link>
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		<title>Free to Be</title>
		<description><![CDATA[As we embark on our final days in Cape Town, I am flooded with gratitude from the lessons I have learned through the history of South Africa. A huge piece of experiencing the crisis in South Africa has been to explore the depths of apartheid. It’s hard to believe that 20 years ago this nation was in the throws of severe segregation and a legal system that oppressed the majority of their citizens. You may be wondering how the nation shifted gears and adopted democracy without causing more turmoil. After the ban of apartheid, South Africans adopted a form of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/free-to-be/</link>
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		<title>A Story to Tell</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The last week and a half in Cape Town has been a transformative, soul-enhancing experience. I had an expectation that I would land and immediately be overwhelmed by hopelessness, poverty, and grief. Of course, expectations are always shattered by reality. Each of our adventures out into the townships has certainly lent perspective on the immense struggle that apartheid and HIV has created for the black and colored community. I have never seen such obvious separation between whites and  blacks, sprawling communities of one to two room shacks housing up to 10 or more people, and lack of what the majority [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/bare-witness-humanitarian-tour-2011/a-story-to-tell/</link>
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		<title>A Divided Youth</title>
		<description><![CDATA[“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children….as we set about building a new South Africa, one of our highest priorities must therefore be our children. The vision of a new society that guides us should already be manifest in the steps we take to address the wrong done to our youth and to prepare them for their future.” Nelson Mandela, 1995 As a first time visitor to SA, it would initially seem that the days of Apartheid are far behind, and the future is bright for all of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/bare-witness-humanitarian-tour-2011/a-divided-youth/</link>
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		<title>No Love Without Forgiveness</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I’m in Cape Town, South Africa. It’s Valentines Day and I am falling in love. No, I don’t have a new boyfriend… but I have met amazing people that have opened my heart and my eyes. Everyday I have been brought to tears and to just as much laughter by the stories of the people here that form the rich tapestry of cultures. I’ve played with orphans, painted schools, and stayed in the home of a family in one of the townships and I’m amazed by everything that I’m learning about this fascinating place. I’m traveling with a group of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/no-love-without-forgiveness/</link>
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		<title>Rocked by Love</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Since we’ve arrived in South Africa, I’ve been spinning and rocking.  Literally, physically rocking, with vertigo.   I wondered at first whether this physical symptom was a manifestation of something psychological and perhaps spiritual, and tested out this theory over several days by paying attention to when the rocking occurred. It has taken some time to process through what has been taking shape in and through my body.   Although I embarked on this trip with expectations of having my mind and heart blown open, I had no concept of the depth that this work would take me into, nor of my [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/rocked-by-love/</link>
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		<title>Children of the Earth</title>
		<description><![CDATA[“Can you write your name on my arm so I will always remember you?” asked an amazing thirteen-year-old girl named Asisipho. However, last Friday afternoon, it was I who always wanted to remember her, the powerful positive energy she exuded during the day we spent together at the Earthchild Project center, and the inspirational stories I have heard and connections I have made in South Africa. Asisipho lives in a large, impoverished township called Khayelitsha with her eight brothers and sisters and her parents, both of whom are unemployed. She enjoys worm farming and gardening, and she loves yoga because [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/bare-witness-humanitarian-tour-2011/children-of-the-earth/</link>
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		<title>Who&#8217;s Your Mama?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It took me 10 days to broach this subject, as it was something I’ve been internally struggling with. It started last week when we were painting a crèche (day care) in the townships as part of our partnership with GOLD Peer Education. While we were painting the two-room pre-school all of the children were moved directly across the street. The “mamas” went with them (a “mama” here in South Africa is a term that refers to anyone who is taking care of the children or running a household, not just their mothers). Those who weren’t painting were spending time playing [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/whos-your-mama/</link>
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		<title>Learning to Love</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I met Lelita at Sakumlandela Primary School. Off the Mat, Into the World funded the building of a wellness center there for yoga, meditation and healing. We met on the yoga mat as partners; her &#8211; 9 years old, 2+ feet tall, me &#8211; older and taller ☺…. Not a likely match, but a good one all the same. We moved together, we breathed together, we laughed together and we loved instantaneously. Lelita spent the rest of our time at the project attached at my hip and deep in my heart. After a heartfelt goodbye at the school, I looked [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/learning-to-love/</link>
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		<title>Home Stay</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This trip has been so jammed pack with emotion and experiences that as I sit down to write I&#8217;m not even quite sure where to begin.  Up until this point our group has been staying in a hotel in a very nice part of Capetown &#8211; the hotel is safe, clean, and we are really only here long enough to walk in and sleep at night, shower in the morning, and then we are gone for the day.  Two nights ago we each packed an overnight bag and went to do a &#8220;home stay&#8221; with a family that we were [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/home-stay/</link>
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		<title>Simunye</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In our western society, because of child obesity, diabetes and an unhealthy diet, it is becoming the norm that parents will outlive their children. What does it mean to be a part of a society where grandparents are outliving THEIR children? How can so many people be living to be the ages of 60, 70, 80, and yet those in their 20’s, 30’s- the supposed most active, fertile, and promising part of our lives, are struggling to stay alive? How is it that this middle generation is disappearing and what effect does that leave on both the younger and older [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/otm-news/simunye/</link>
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		<title>In the Ghetto</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We started the morning visiting the District Six Museum. Tomorrow marks the 35th anniversary of the forced removal of 60,000 &#8220;colored&#8221; citizens during the apartheid era. (&#8220;Colored&#8221; is a term still used in South Africa to denote those of mixed decent). The bustling town of artists, merchants, former slaves and other immigrants was literally bulldozed. The gentleman who spoke with us, Noor, was a former resident of District 6 who lost his family&#8217;s home and had no choice but to relocate. He told us his story with grace. He spoke about forgiveness. This is an overarching theme here &#8212; forgiveness. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/bare-witness-humanitarian-tour-2011/in-the-ghetto/</link>
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		<title>Upfront Awareness-Baphumulele Children</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I gained a lot of awareness today at the Baphumulele Children&#8217;s Home. This loving and stable environment aims to provide a permanent home for children who have been orphaned, abandoned, abused, or neglected. We had the honor of meeting and playing with some of these beautiful children today. Upon reflection and processing time this evening, I took a moment to look back at the day spent. I sorted out how pieces of happiness were created simply by smiling into these kid&#8217;s eyes and sharing their joy with mine. As I reflected on the day, I thought about all of the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/bare-witness-humanitarian-tour-2011/upfront-awareness-baphumulele-children/</link>
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		<title>One Among Many</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This afternoon we visited the Baphumelele Children’s Home in Khayelitsha (one of South Africa&#8217;s largest townships) where about 60 or so kids from the ages 3 to 12 joined us in baking biscuits (chocolate chip cookies), laughing and sharing a very fun yoga class, and crafting to create bright and colorful bracelets and necklaces. While we were there to spend the afternoon with a small handful of children amongst the thousands that live orphaned in the HIV blanketed community, I felt genuine joy that the children were able to share in this day. The sun was shining, but not as [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/bare-witness-humanitarian-tour-2011/one-among-many/</link>
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		<title>Arriving, Assumptions, Apartheid</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In my first days here in South Africa, I’ve already been served up a big lesson about assumptions and empathy. Before arriving I did a lot of research about the history of South Africa and apartheid. Apartheid fascinated me and I wanted to understand how it all started and how it came to be. I was so passionate in my effort and forgot a major component: I do not know what I do not know. When I arrived, I was greeted by a dear friend whom I had met on a previous trip to Peru. She was born and raised [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/bare-witness-humanitarian-tour-2011/arriving-assumptions-apartheid/</link>
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		<title>Off The Mat, Into South Africa</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In 2009 OTM traveled to Cambodia on the first of what would become our annual Seva Challenge Humanitarian Tour. During that time, we visited the S21 prison camp and came upon a man who was one of the seven survivors of the camp and who had come back for a first visit since his release. He had returned for the commencement of the UN tribunals, 30 years after the genocide of approximately 2 million people in Cambodia, over 21% of their entire population. Needless to say, to bare witness to him in the presence of his place of imprisonment and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://offthematintotheworld.org/blog/bare-witness-humanitarian-tour-2011/off-the-mat-into-south-africa/</link>
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