sdixlyons

Kind of a daunting term, but here goes. Clinica Verde will change the lives of women and girls by providing not only healthcare, but education, compassion and opportunity. I'm a woman and a mother. I know. It's not just about medical care, immunizations, triage. That's the starting point. But you really begin to transform the lives of women and girls when you're able to take a whole approach to well-being. When you can help to make the connections and realize that without knowledge, without education, without opportunity, without love – our actions are merely gauze over the wounds. I don't want to be the gauze. I want to be the bridge to transformation.

Lake Muskoka, Ontario, Canada. I love new places and experiences, but I've gone to Muskoka every summer of my life. It's the place that always brings me back to myself.

I want every young girl to feel safe, confident and hopeful of the life that lays before her. I want her to have the strength to say no, the assurance of her worth and potential, and the vision of a life filled with love and purpose. I understand that these goals aren't "quantifiable." We have our number goals. But my big goal, the reason I started Clinica Verde, won't be achieved by plotting advances in the number of babies with dehydration. Those numbers are obviously key, but they only begin the story. My goal will be realized when I see girls who were selling tortillas on the side of the road getting an education, believing in their strength and voice, and moving forward in their lives to help create change themselves.

I started out in journalism, and have worked as a writer, editor and publisher. Some people see my work with Clinica Verde as a step in a new direction. I see it as a broadening of my interest in social justice, change, giving voice to the voiceless.