Her life is dedicated to serving others through education. She believes that the path out of poverty (including her own); an existence of few choices and few resources, is paved through learning.

I would like to share with you the story about Miguelina because it can inspire us to do more with what we have and teach us that keeping the faith works!

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Karen Parsons I am Founder and President of Successful Solutions Life Coaching.

In 2002, my husband and I fulfilled our dream of moving to a tropical island. The Dominican Republic has now been our home for the past 6 years.

When I moved here I could not speak Spanish, so I asked around and several people told me to go to the Coral Language Institute in the Dominican Village. The Dominican Village is where many of the local Dominicans live, just slightly inland from the beach town in which I live. They live there because most of the locals cannot afford to live across the street on the ocean side where expensive condominiums are going up at dizzying speed.

When I first went to the school I met Gustavo, the head of the language school and Miguelina his wife who was to be my teacher. As soon as I entered the school, on the dusty dirt road of the Dominican Village, I was so glad that I had decided not to attend the touristy and expensive language school that I had also been referred to. This to me was authentic, the real thing, I was going to learn Spanish from real locals!

Little did I know at the time that Miguelina and I would forge a very special relationship that continues to this day.

First, I have to give you a little background on Miguelina. She grew up in this same Dominican Village. She was the youngest of 18 children! Since she was a little girl she would ask herself the question, “what do I want to do with my life?” She knew that she didn’t want to live the same type of life as her parents or the people in her community; most of them couldn’t read or write and were very poor.

Even at her young age she was able to see that there were other possibilities. Instinctively, she knew that if she could educate herself and learn English then she could change her destiny and the destiny of the people in her community. She said, “no one else was helping them”.

She wasn’t sure exactly how she was going to do it, but she knew she needed money to help achieve her dreams. So at 8-years old she started selling apples, oranges and avocadoes on the side of the road.

She continued to work, go to school and save her money. She was an excellent student who worked very hard.

When she was 13 years old she began in her spare time to teach her nieces and nephews the little bit of English she had learned.

At age 15 she started to teach other children after school (school in the Dominican Republic is only 3 1/2 hours per day) and received 10 pesos per child per week, which is approximately 30 cents, but some parents couldn’t afford to pay even this.

Regardless, Miguelina kept at it, all the while sensing that the younger children of her community were missing out on a very important opportunity to learn. There was no such thing as pre-school, so she decided to start one.

I don’t think Miguelina set out with the intention to become one of the most inspirational people in her community but she did know exactly how she was going to help others, by educating them.

She asked her dad if she could use an old property that he had so she could teach the children there. He agreed and in two small shacks with leaky roofs, dirt floors and discarded appliances in the playground, the Escuela Centro de Ensenanza Coral was born!

The Dominican Republic School

Life continued, she graduated high school, got married and started to have a family of her own. The school was still going strong, more and more parents were enrolling their kids in the preschool. Unfortunately, Miguelina had to start turning them away as the two shacks couldn’t hold anymore students.

However, Miguelina’s dream didn’t end there, instead it expanded. She decided to build an elementary school with classes through to grade 6 with real classrooms and resources. She and Gustavo had managed to save enough money to buy some land next to where they lived and whenever they had any extra money they would buy cement blocks.

Slowly, one block at a time construction began and then stopped when they had no more money, and then began and stopped again, and began and stopped again. It was a heart wrenching process not knowing from one week to the next if they would have enough money for the next stage of construction.

Even though the odds of building the school seemed stacked against them, Miguelina was undeterred. She had an unwavering faith in the “Higher Power”. Through her hard work, dedication and generous support of a few dedicated foreigners who have been touched by Miguelina’s quest, she received enough money to finish the school!

The new school opened in September 2005. Even though the building was mostly a shell, with no windows and doors, the beauty of the dream and the obvious learning that was taking place was apparent as soon as you walked through the door.

The first day of school at the new Dominican Republic School.

Since September 2005 the school has had windows and doors donated. All of the classrooms are colorfully painted. There are four working toilets instead of the original one. A new school playground was donated and the school now has 12 teachers and a full time volunteer!

Of course, it is not utopia; everyday presents a new challenge. Fortunately, a sponsorship program that Miguelina and I implemented a few years ago is helping. It came about because many of the parents whose children go to the school fall on hard times, they lose their job, they become disabled or in several cases the father dies and they no longer have enough income to pay for the tuition.

My friends and family who have visited the school all agree that Miguelina is a living angel and in every case they have shared the story with their friends and asked them to sponsor. The sponsorship program has been a success thus far. Many are empathetic to the plight of the Dominican children and want to help.

Miguelina, the angel of Dominican Republic School.

These are indeed very lucky children who will have a far better chance of changing their future and the future of their country with their education.

2008 graduation was a joyous occasion with all students moving onto the next grade with the exception of two children who will be moving forward in January. This is no small feat when you consider the Dominican Republic’s dismal track record in education.

According to a report released during the Global Education Forum, most students in the Dominican educational system aren’t getting the basic educational tools needed to succeed. When Miguelina accepts new children into her school from the public school system, often the children don’t even know how to read.

I had the privilege one night at the request of Miguelina to help some of her English students at the Coral Language Institute (the language school her husband runs out of one of the classrooms). I was asked to interview ten of her students, a group of young women aged 15 to 25, and then give her an assessment on how they were conversing in English.

Wow, to listen to what these young ladies wanted to do with their lives was inspiring: lawyers, doctors, police officers, tourism and more and they all believed they could do it! You have to understand that these young women mostly come from parents who have very little formal education past grade 6 and started having babies in their teens because they didn’t know any other way. Also, prostitution is legal in the Dominican Republic and the inherent beauty of Dominican people makes prostitution an easy choice for them.

That night really opened my eyes to the difference that Miguelina was making. Through her example of aspiring to be more she was teaching her students that there can be more to their life than prostitution or having babies in their teens. Her commitment to education is an inspiration to these children.

She is a very busy person with four young children of her own, she runs her school, she is a teacher at the school in the afternoon and teaches English at her husband’s school in the evenings. Even with this schedule she managed to finish her degree last summer. She now has her Bachelor of Education and is now pursuing her Masters and travels 4 hours every Saturday to attend University! She is the only one in her family to finish high school!

Miguelina and her family live very humbly; any extra money goes into subsidizing the school for the many children whose parents cannot afford to consistently pay the US$18.00 monthly tuition.

Her next goal is to build a second floor on the school so she can accept more children. They had begun construction but unfortunately ran out of funds. I am confident that with their track record so far, they will succeed!

Dominican Republic new private school.

I was compelled to share this story with you because most of us have so much but yet we complain that it is not enough.

Miguelina has done so much with so little.

Can you imagine with our resources what we could achieve if we wanted to?

I know that many of you are trying to create a better world for your self and others but keeping the faith can be very difficult to do when life seems to be throwing so many roadblocks in your way.

I can tell you with confidence, from personal experience and the knowledge gained by my clients’ experiences, that if you want to achieve your dreams keeping the faith is the only option!

On a long journey of human life, faith is the best of companions; it is the best refreshment on the journey; and it is the greatest property.
– The Buddha

Step 1. Become Aware

In a relaxed position, with your eyes closed, picture yourself being stressed. In your mind’s eye, go through every stress symptom that you have.

Feel yourself being stressed. It is imperative that the visualization is very real with powerful emotions attached to it.

Now picture yourself becoming aware that you are stressed. You are now the Observer of your behavior. You see your symptoms but your perception of them is of something separate from you.

It is like a miniature awakening!

You begin to feel empowered because as the Observer you realize that you can change how you are feeling!

Visualize yourself calming down and feeling relaxed.

Feel your stress dissipating!

You are now able to go about your day in a mindful and productive manner.

Finally, tell yourself that the next time you are feeling this way it will be your clue that you are stressed. And you will once again become the Observer of your feelings and use these Stress Relief Tips to overcome your stress.

This was just the dress rehearsal but a very important part of this exercise.

These stress relief tips are helping you train yourself to become more aware!

Step 2. Breathe Deeply

Now go about your day normally, and the next time you experience one of your stress symptoms stop what you are doing and make a conscious choice to transform these debilitating feelings.

Close your eyes, sit back in your chair and take ten deep cleansing breaths.

Breath is life.

When we are stressed, our breathing becomes shallow and labored. This translates into our life being shallow and labored at that moment.

Inhale through your nose and exhale through your nose.

This may be difficult for some of you but do your best to go with it. The benefits are worth it!

When you inhale through your nose your breath is being filtered and warmed as it enters the body. When you exhale through the nose it slows down your breathing, creating a more relaxed breathing pattern. In yoga, it is sometimes said that you use your mouth for eating and your nose for breathing.

If you don’t feel your symptoms dissipating and your stress evaporating it means that you aren’t breathing properly. Don’t do this exercise if you are just going to go through the motions. Take the time to do ten deep and cleansing breathes.

They should be unforced; when you are done you should definitely feel more peaceful.

If you are driving or with someone or for any other reason unable to close your eyes and stop what you are doing, you can still relax and de-stress yourself; simply by turning your attention inwards. Focus on your breath.

If you are speaking, focus your attention on your words, feel yourself slowing down, feel yourself becoming more present.

If you are listening to someone speak then focus your attention on the other person, on his or her words, what do their words really mean?

If you are reading, slow down, look at each word on the page, absorb them.

The bottom line is:

Focus your attention on what it is that you are doing at that moment!

Step 3. Reflect

After the ten deep breathes and while still sitting in your chair (or as soon as possible afterward) with your eyes closed, reflect on why you were feeling stressed.

Trace each thought and connecting thought until you get to the source of your anxiety. If you have trouble remembering, don’t be hard on yourself, it will become easier with practice.

The next time you feel the tension coming back, stop what you are doing, but this time, analyze the cause of your anxiety before you do your ten deep breathes.

Be honest with yourself.

Sometimes we know what has caused our problems but the reasons may seem embarrassing to us or scary and we prefer to leave it to live in the subconscious.

Now with the thoughts clearly in your mind let us move onto the next part of the Stress Relief Tips.

Step 4. Live in the Now

It is time to examine the thoughts; to look at them as the Observer, unemotionally and detached from them.

Most of us become stressed for one of two reasons:

We are thinking of the past, or we are thinking of the future.

It’s true! When you explore your feelings, you will see that you were worried about being late for something, not meeting a deadline, worried about your health or someone else’s. Worried about the state of the world, fearful of losing your job, afraid of not having enough money and so on.

You were thinking of the future. Or you were thinking about how you should have done this or should have done that, you are mad at your boss or spouse or parents for something in your past. You are angry because of being wronged in your past. You are upset because of how you went off of your diet. If only I did this or said that then none of this would have happened and so on.

You are thinking in the past.

When you become mindful of the present moment, your stress disappears.

Now that you are aware of the thoughts that are at the root of your tension; what are you going to about them?

Some of you may have more success if you write them down. Some of you may not take the time, so just thinking about them is fine.

As you reflect on each thought, come up with a solution.

If you are worried about money, what is it that you can do right now to help with your financial issues? Can you write up a budget for yourself, can you go ask your boss for a raise? How can you simplify your life so you can spend less money? How can you become more efficient and productive, freeing up more time to earn extra money?

If you are worried about not sticking to your diet, what can you do right now that will help? If you are upset because of feeling wronged in your past, what practices can you undertake to work on your anger and resentment?

How can you move on?

Alleviating your stress requires a transformation of your thoughts!

This transformation may take some time but the journey begins with awareness. When you use these stress relief tips you will gradually become more conscious of what has triggered your stress.

You don’t need to be alone on your journey. I am here to help!

Join the consciousness revolution that is underway!

I hope these stress relief tips were helpful!

It is a reality that we all live with.

This is why we need to have different mechanisms in place for coping with stress. The challenge for most of us is actually being cognizant of when we are stressed. It is such an habitual state for us to be in, that most of the time we don’t even know when we are in it!

We all have distinctive and personal indicators that we manifest when we are feeling stressed. What are yours?

Physical symptoms are the most obvious:

Do you bite your nails?

Do you perspire?

Do you clench your teeth?

Do you get a headache or feel your neck muscles getting tight?

Maybe you don’t have any obvious physical symptoms because your signs are more intangible.

Do you feel overwhelmed?

Do you get anxious?

Maybe you are irritable?

Maybe afraid?

Do you get curt with people because you are frustrated with what you perceive as their ineptness?

If you want to cope with your stress then you need to recognize what types of behavior you exhibit while in a “stressful state” and which situations trigger these behaviors.

Step 1. Contemplate on what your significant symptoms are when you are feeling stressed. List as many as possible.

Step 2. Go through each point and reflect on it. Write down in as much detail as possible the situations that usually trigger these stressors.

Step 3. Now think about whether you actually have the desire and discipline to do something about it. Even though we may be aware of the fact that we are stressed; we can get so wrapped up in the drama of it all that we just go with it.

In some ways it seems easier to let the “snowball of stress” continue to gain momentum instead of employing our force of will to stop it.

If you are honest with yourself, you may come to the conclusion that you are not committed to changing.

Being “stressed out” is a way of life for you. It is all you know, you are good at it!

What if you embark on this new path of “less stress” and you fail. Fear of failure and fear of change are natural human responses.

The real failure comes when we let fear stop us.

I decided to sit at one of the beachside cafés and ponder the question. It occurred to me that a book I had recently purchased called Practicing the Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle, was in my bag. I took it out and flipped through the pages, hoping it would give me a clue. I came upon this passage:

“Surrender is the simple but profound wisdom of yielding to rather than opposing the flow of life. The only place where you can experience the flow of life is the Now, so to surrender is to accept the present moment unconditionally and without reservation. It is to relinquish inner resistance to what is.”

A surge of profound insight rushed through me.

In the five minutes it took to read and absorb that passage, I had an instant awakening. It was miraculously clear to me:

“Accept the flow of life.” These people and situations were exactly the way they were supposed to be; my resistance to them was only causing pain and suffering for myself and those close to me. I needed to surrender to what was, and to what is, moment by moment.

For years I had vacillated between living in the past and the future. For me, the present was simply not present! It was merely a stepping-stone for the future. Intuitively, I knew Tolle was right, that living in the moment was the answer.

I’d tried using sheer discipline and perseverance to achieve this goal, but it would only work temporarily. Now all at once I had a knowing that this time was different. This time, the pain had been too great. I had to change my outlook in order to be happy — here or anywhere. There was no other way. I was finally ready to embrace this higher level of awareness.

Six years have passed since that climatic day on the beach. I am thankful for the lesson I had to learn in order to be at peace with my decision to stay. We have been living here happily ever since, and I have no regrets about my choice. I have successfully integrated this lesson into my life because I am ready and I have discovered mindfulness meditation.

Through meditating every day, I am able to slow my racing mind and be present at a much deeper level. This higher level of awareness is who I am; it is no longer forced, or something that is outside of me.

Now when I see the poverty and hear of the tragedies, I do my best not to resist. I do what I can to help, and accept what I can’t.

I now understand that it is necessary to find the balance between the joys and sorrows of life. Regardless of where you live, tragedies and sadness are part of life, and inescapable. It is how you choose to perceive these situations that creates your reality.

Some people (as I did) think that acceptance and surrender are weak. Rolling over and letting life treat you like a doormat. On the contrary; acceptance and surrender are the keys to happiness. Our pain comes from resisting. We still need goals and dreams and the drive to take the actions necessary to move forward. At the same time, we can accept what life throws at us along the way.

My perspective on my new country was rapidly shifting from positive to negative. This new reality was hitting me like an oncoming train. The six-month honeymoon with my new home was now over. My dark feelings were self-perpetuating, and what’s worse, I didn’t know how to stop them. It was a downward spiral, as each negative thought attached to the next negative thought like links on a chain. The more links, the heavier the chain and before I knew it, I was a prisoner, captive of my own feelings.

For weeks afterwards, I tried to live life normally, telling myself that everything would be okay, but the confusion and doubt would inevitably return.

I decided that I needed to clear my head, so I took a walk along the beach to town, hoping the change of scenery would lift my spirits. It was a beautiful, sparkling day. The ocean was calm; without the wind swept waves it looked especially green and luminous. The sun was powerful overhead making the sand burn beneath my feet. As I walked, I breathed in the incredible beauty of Dominican Republic and reminded myself of the reasons I had moved here — the sun, the sand, the ocean, the fresh air, the mountains, the friendliness of the Dominican people, and the relaxed, unhurried lifestyle. By the time I arrived in town, my spirits had lifted.

But it didn’t take long for the storm clouds to return.

Once again, I was witnessing the painful contrasts of this place: Many of the local children were walking around under the hot sun with shoeshine boxes under their arms, hoping to make some money so their families could eat. I reflected on how difficult it must be to make a living as a shoeshine boy when most people wear sandals or flip-flops. I thought: What choices do these children have? Many are born in absolute poverty with no hope of an education or any chance for a better life.

I saw men carrying heavy boxes full of clothes, belts, wallets, and trinkets, hoping to entice the touristas with their wares. But many of the tourists ignored them, and some were downright rude. A big expensive SUV rolled by, its passengers impeccably dressed in designer clothes, a chauffeur at the wheel.

I was finally ready to ask myself the questions that I had been afraid to, unsure if I wanted to hear the answers, now demanded recognition:

How can a highly sensitive person like myself be happy in a place like this? Should I go back to Canada and pretend that this suffering does not exist, that the tragedies of Marc El Wafi and others aren’t real because I am too far away to be touched by them? If I stay, can I handle it?

In just eight months at the school, he had touched their hearts deeply and made an imprint that would last a lifetime.

After the shooting, I began to question our recent move to the Dominican Republic where this terrible tragedy took place. This was a move that my husband and I had envisioned for many years.

It had taken a lot of hard work and effort to finally realize the dream of living in what I thought would be paradise. I’d naively assumed that once our vision became a reality, life would be perfect; vacation bliss a permanent mindset.

Our search for this paradise… began twenty years ago when my husband and I developed a passion for windsurfing. Countless days were spent sitting on the beach waiting for the wind that was forecasted, but seldom came. It was very frustrating and unproductive. My husband and I knew we were living in the wrong place… this was demonstrated by our,constant cravings, discontentedness and dreams of one day moving to a warm and windy tropical paradise.

Dominican Republic was one of our favorites. We had an immediate connection with its beauty, friendly people and relaxed lifestyle. Not to mention the consistent wind and warm water! We toyed with the idea of packing up and moving. But in the end, it was just talk. We didn’t have the courage to become the adventurers we longed to be.

My husband and I spent the next eighteen years working hard, having a wonderful child, and creating a superb lifestyle for ourselves; filled with prosperity and love. Most people would have been happy with our lifestyle and generally we were, but there was always something missing, it didn’t feel like it was the life we were born to live.

The rat race of Toronto finally wore on us and we moved to the country. I had figured out how to do my job from a home office and commute to Toronto only a couple of days per week. The move was a wonderful transition and appeased us for a while, but inevitably the same question would arise;

“Why are we living here?” We were vehement about our dislike for the winter and now that we lived in the country on a large body of water, the winters were even longer and colder. Life was too short to live somewhere we didn’t truly enjoy; something had to change.

The main reason we were still tied to Canada was because of my job, leaving it was not an easy decision. I had developed a very successful company with eighteen-years of blood, sweat and tears. How could I just walk away?

Then a well-disguised opportunity fortuitously came into my life.

I injured my back; the injury was severe enough that I was bed ridden for five months and then spent another year after that recuperating. I had to close down my business because I could no longer work as a Search Consultant, my back would not tolerate the discomfort of sitting for long periods of time.

This forced separation with the security of my eighteen-year profession was the final catalyst I needed to make the big leap into the unknown.

Our friends and family in Canada were surprised with how quickly we were implementing our new plan. They thought we were making a hasty decision. We knew we were not; the decision was the fulfillment of a twenty-year quest.

I had an inner knowing that this was what I was meant to do. The time was now. No more wishing or dreaming. This was going to be my new reality. It seemed like the Universe was conspiring to make this work for me. So it is no wonder that I naively imagined life would be perfect…