Tag Archives: girls who are changing the world

Girls Who Are Changing the World: The Women of Animal Aid

9 Dec

Having just finished Week 2 volunteering at Animal Aid Unlimited in Udaipur, Rajasthan (India) I am completely in awe of the incredible staff that runs this amazing hospital and sanctuary.  Though the ENTIRE staff should (and will) be recognized for their beautiful work, the women of Animal Aid are this week’s Girls Who Are Changing The World.

Erika Abrams founded Animal Aid with her husband Jim about 15 years ago.  They moved to a small village close to Udaipur from Seattle to create a haven for the un-owned street animals of India.  Though neither of them had veterinary experience, they had a love of animals and a passion to help them.  Along with their daughter Claire, they settled here and haven’t looked back.

“As they deepened roots and their understanding of how things work here, they learned that in most cities in India there are no hospitals or shelters for un-owned animals. The government veterinary facilities are aimed toward milk production and animal farming.”

Claire spoke fairly good Hindi by the time she was 10 and has been an ambassador for animals in schools throughout the area.  She began doing slideshows at the age of 15, giving presentations to inform kids what Animal Aid does and why their work is so important.  She also conducts vegan outreach activities in the community.  I like to watch her with the animals.  She gives unconditional love to every one.

Claire giving love to Octopus, a deformed & handicapped dog.

Trudy is the Volunteer Coordinator.  She’s basically my boss and one of the coolest chicks you will ever meet!  She gives tours to visiting groups and assigns the volunteers their jobs.  She knows the place inside and out.  She also has a huge passion for animals like I have never seen.  It is a pleasure to get to work with her every day!

*Photo by Erika Sidor

Then there is the female staff of Animal Aid: Radha, Dhapu, Manju & Kamla.  Each of them has their specialty.  Radha and Dhapu are in charge of pups.  I’m positive that the puppies think Dhapu is their momma the way they follow her around and cry when she leaves their sight for a second! Manju is the woman in charge of cleaning and let me tell you with the 100+ animals at the hospital, it’s a NON-STOP job!

Then there is Kamla who is probably my favorite person in the world!  You only have to be in her presence for a minute before you know that she is someone extraordinary.  Kamla’s main job is physical therapy and massage for the handicapped dogs.  She has gotten many of the paralyzed dogs gain more mobility with her healing ways.  Not only that, but there are at least 2 dogs that have made a full recovery thanks to her.  She is magical.  And probably one of the most joyous people you will ever meet!

Last but not least, there are the female volunteers of Animal Aid.  In my 2 weeks, there have been quite a few people who have come through to spend time helping the hospital.  99% of them girls!  Some come for a day or 2 and some come for weeks/months at a time.  Julie O’Neill has been coming to Animal Aid for 6 years.  The first time she came, she only planned on a week and stayed for a year!  Since then she’s been coming for several months at a time, living in a nearby village and spending every day working at the hospital.  Her dedication to helping the world is inspiring!  Julie definitely deserves her own GCTW post one day highlighting her amazing adventures in volunteering all over the world!

All the women of Animal Aid go above and beyond to help animals in need on a daily basis.  I am completely honored to get to be in their divine presence every day.  Thank you all so much for inspiring me and making me a better person!

♥∞

~B

  Follow B on Twitter in India: @iamsunshine78

**If you know a super rad girl that you would like to nominate for our ‘Girls Who Are Changing the World’ feature, send them to us at: loveinfinitelyproject@gmail.com

Girl Who Is Changing the World: Brenda Rodriguez

18 Nov Brenda

“Happiness hit her like a train on a track”

~ Florence and the Machine

Hi everyone! Now that Brenda is fully immersed into Fall Into Adventure we’ve taken over the blog to wish her a very special birthday by honoring her as the Girl Who’s Changing the World. Brenda is the most giving, loving, and absolutely amazing person I know. Not only do I consider her my mentor, but one of my best friends. I’m a better person just by knowing her, and I think a lot of us at LIP would agree with that statement. She followed her heart and hasn’t given up on her dreams – in this process she brought us all together. Thanks to her I’ve found my tribe of sisters and best friends.

Brenda – you’ve changed my world a million times over. Happy Birthday, and here’s to another year of wishes coming true! -xoxo-  Noelle

I’m thrilled to take part in this very special Brenda’s Birthday edition of our Girl Who Is Changing The World feature!  I’ve wanted to write about Brenda Rodriguez (who you know as the founder of the Love Infinitely Project!!!) for months, but as she moves into the next year of her beautiful life, it now feels truly appropriate.  In addition to being one of my most admired heroes, Brenda is absolutely one of the best friends I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing.

Her determination, her optimism, her refusal to accept mediocrity, her passion for compassion, and her bravery in attempting to change the world in a dramatic way ALL inspire me daily.

I met Brenda at Animal Acres, a farm animal sanctuary outside of Los Angeles.  At the farm, we bonded over our mutual love for the goats and piggies and our dream of creating a vegan world, but once I got home and tracked her down on Twitter, I found we have much more than animal activism in common.  We were both borderline obsessed with one of our favorite musical artists, Tristan Prettyman (a constant source of inspiration for us both!), we both regarded Joyologist Tricia Huffman as a spiritual guru, we both had an inappropriate crush on 71-year-old James Cromwell, and we can both quote Love Actually more than is healthy.  We became immediate friends and started attending live music shows and volunteer events together, and within a few weeks I knew she would become a permanent fixture in my life.  I feel so blessed, because if you asked me to describe my ideal friend using the best of my imagination, I’m not sure I could even come close to describing Brenda; I would never believe that such a person could exist!

As you probably know, Brenda is currently celebrating her birthday volunteering at the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand (after which she’ll be spending the next month helping other needy animals and children across Thailand and India).  Her devotion to selflessness amazes me daily.  While I already miss her so so much, I am ecstatic for the countless lives that will be touched by her generosity of spirit.  When she returns, she’ll be continuing to grow the Love Infinitely Project with the ultimate goal of creating a global network of volunteer activities that will transform the world we live in.  I hope you’ll all take time to support her work, shop the Love Infinitely store (my Love Infinitely apparel has practically become my uniform!) and share her story!

In closing, I’ll offer five final words that have come to epitomize the way I feel about Brenda.  I’ve been able to sing them to her when prompted as part of a crowd sing-along at countless Makepeace Brothers concerts, but I don’t say them directly to her nearly enough:

Brenda: “I want to thank you.” ~ Jessica

♥∞

~ Jessica & Noelle ~

Follow B on Twitter in Thailand: @iamsunshine78

Follow Jessica on Twitter: @jlschluet

Follow Noelle on Twitter: @NoelleBobo

 

**If you know a super rad girl that you would like to nominate for our ‘Girls Who Are Changing the World’ feature, send them to us at: loveinfinitelyproject@gmail.com

Girl Who Is Changing The World: Jessica Schlueter

11 Nov

“To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Jessica has more passion for changing the world than anyone I know, she also happens to be one of my best friends.  We met volunteering at Animal Acres, a farmed animal sanctuary in Acton, CA.  I don’t know what made me strike up a conversation up with her that day.  There were a lot of volunteers, but somehow I knew I wanted to be friends with her.  We soon realized that we had many of the same interests and that we may actually be the same person.   Jess & I have become the best of friends since then.

Being a very active activist, she frequently participates in protests, passes around petitions and spreads the word on causes close to her heart.  You only need to visit her blog, Treekisser to see how much she cares about creating change for animals, the environment and all of humanity.  She is a great educator and a defender of animal and human rights.  When others (like me) would get flustered in a heated debate on a certain topic, Jessica always knows the correct facts and the right words to say.  I have been witness to this many times.  She’s incredible.

Her latest project is getting the store INTERMIX to stop selling fur:

Jessica has been leading this campaign and even rallied together activists in 5 different cities to protest INTERMIX’s selling of fur.  The petition has over 2,600 and has caught the attention of vegan celebrities/activists.  She ran a similar one against the store Nasty Gal with great success.  And even though INTERMIX hasn’t backed down yet, I am confident that Jessica will win this one.

And she probably already knows this but Jess is one of my heroes.  I am so grateful to have a friend like her.  She keeps me motivated and inspired.  Knowing her has made my life epically better.  Not just for all the fun we have but for how much change we will create in the world together.

I am lucky to have her on the Board of Directors for Love Infinitely Project but extra lucky to have her as one of my best friends too!

Follow Jessica on Twitter: @jlschluet

Check out her amazing blog, Treekisser here.

‘Like’ Treekisser on Facebook.

Sign the INTERMIX petition.

♥∞

~B

  Follow B on Twitter in Thailand: @iamsunshine78

**If you know a super rad girl that you would like to nominate for our ‘Girls Who Are Changing the World’ feature, send them to us at: loveinfinitelyproject@gmail.com

Girl Who Is Changing the World: Clara Polito

25 Aug

(contact Clara for a Clara’s Cakes t-shirt! $15)

This week’s “Girl Who Is Changing the World” is Clara Polito.  To most of us, owning and operating a vegan baking company (Clara’s Cakes), being a full-time student, participating regularly in animal activism, running a music/animal-rights/fashion blog (Clara in Veganland), and still having time to walk the dog might seem daunting- but it’s no problem for 14-year-old superstar Clara.

Clara, whose vegan delicacies have been photographed and raved about by LA’s most notorious vegan blogger, QuarryGirl, started her company a year and a half ago, shortly after going vegan at age 12.  Since then, she has provided her incredible desserts for concerts, web series launch parties, charity bake sales, and farm animal sanctuary holiday celebrations, and has been featured in articles & interviews for Girls Life Magazine, The Elephant Journal, Change.org, Peta2, and Huggerfood.  Most recently, her phenomenally addictive ‘gobs’ have been added to the weekly home delivery service run by one of Los Angeles’ most renowned gourmet vegan restaurants, Madeleine Bistro. Not bad for a young lady who has yet to commence high school!

“Well, when you bite into a delicious, fluffy, moist cupcake with some crème filling inside you get this moment of joy. Especially when you realize it’s completely animal product-free. So if most vegan food tastes that yummy then why not go vegan?”

- from Clara’s interview with The Elephant Journal

Clara truly believes in the power of decadent vegan food to change hearts, influence opinions, and ultimately relieve some animal suffering, but her world-saving doesn’t stop in the kitchen.  She regularly participates in protests against animal cruelty (I’ve proudly marched alongside her in Beverly Hills’ annual Black Friday fur protest), attends & promotes animal-rights-related film premieres (for movies like Bold Native and Skin Trade), and spreads the vegan truth in her blog.

Clara Rocks!Suffice to say- this girl isn’t messing around.  She doesn’t stop at rescuing animals, either- she also wants to empower women.  She recently published an extremely well written piece about rampant sexism in television commercials.  Her message to her female peers:

“I guess my point is to tell girls that they don’t have to have a family, or make a perfect dinner or wear a bikini and wiggle on a car (unless you want to later on!). You don’t have to work for the man. You do what makes you feel empowered and happy.”

I personally cannot wait to see what else Clara has in store for the world.  At 14, Clara already has more poise, confidence, ambition, and eloquence than many people ten years her senior.  Though she is sure to be busy after starting high school in the coming weeks, hit her up with an order if you’ve got a vegan sweet tooth that needs satisfying!

(photo by Schwartz Studios)

Learn more about Clara’s Cakes.

Like Clara’s Cakes on Facebook.

Read Clara in Veganland.

Follow Clara on Twitter.

Contact Clara to place bakery orders or ask questions! Clara@claracakes.com

~ Jessica

  Follow Jessica on Twitter: @jlschluet

**If you know a super rad girl that you would like to nominate for our ‘Girls Who Are Changing the World’ feature, send them to us at: loveinfinitelyproject@gmail.com

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