Salley is in the tent.

To celebrate the women who are mothers, on Mother's Day we painted the nails of women on the street and distributed hand balm. Many of the women who live on the streets have children. Very often, however, they have lost their children's rights altogether and it has been years since they have seen their children. With these situations, the issue of shame and guilt is very big. Many feel completely worthless and also label themselves as failures when they think of their children. However, another response to this pain is anger towards the people who took away their children's rights. This day is a very difficult day in many different ways. Our goal with this project was to show the women love, value and acceptance. While painting their nails we were able to encourage the mothers and show them in a practical way how valuable they are. It was a great success as the mothers thanked us and expressed how much this meant to them.

"Salley, for example, while we were painting her nails, was talking about her life and how much it meant to her what we were doing for her and how grateful she was for this surprise. She smiled and we could tell it made her feel so valuable and appreciated. This was also especially encouraging for Salley because Mother's Day is a day when she remembers very sad experiences. We wanted to show her that her past doesn't have to define her future."