Thou Shalt Fly Without Wings

“Bicycles have no walls.” -Paul Cornish

A few years ago stars from London’s West End Musicals organized a Flash Mob for Love146 featuring the Annie Lennox song; “Little Bird”. These lyrics struck me:

“I walk along the city streets, so dark with rage and fear;
And I wish that I could be that bird and fly away from here.
I wish I had the wings to fly away from here.”

I was reminded of a scene in the movie Forrest Gump that shreds me every time I see it. When young Forrest and little Jenny are running to get away from Jenny’s abusive father, they hide out in a field and Jenny desperately prays; “Dear God, make me a bird. So I could fly far, far away from here.” I wonder how many trafficked, exploited and abused children pray that prayer every day?

Our goal here at Love146 is to not only call attention to the horrors of child trafficking and exploitation, but to stop it from happening. We are accomplishing that through our prevention efforts. In addition, we are providing comprehensive and holistic care for survivors of child trafficking and exploitation on their journey of recovery.

We’ve often heard children use the example of a bird to describe their recovery process. They describe themselves as growing wings again as they experience freedom and childhood the way it was meant to be.

Years ago I was visiting The Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. I remember a massive mural at the entrance of wild horses running through water with the inscription; “Thou Shalt Fly Without Wings.” I thought of this when we recently received the following video of children in our safe homes in the Philippines riding bikes. Some of them for the first time. The smiles, giggles, and laughter of exhilaration is something that comes only from riding bikes. A huge thank you to the amazing people at Specialized Bikes for the extraordinary generosity of their time, energy, bikes and giving the gift of flying without wings.

Watch this video about that special day

Inspired by Generosity?
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