https://helpingchildrenworld.org/2023/01/22/carmen-perry-interviews-artra-green-ceo-founder-hcaw/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_hNeZiYLaY
Transcript
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[Music]
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Hello my name is Carmen Perry and my podcast is “Authentically You”. Today
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we're almost at the end of the month of December of 2022 and I wanted to do
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something very special. In fact the podcast is special in its
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own right because it is sharing information about other people's journey
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on their self-development path. Our content is carefully curated to provide
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somewhat of peace, appreciation and gratitude for not only the guest’s journey
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but for your own and hopefully through their words and through their sharing
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with you it'll spark curiosity in you to start your own
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journey and to begin your own. So I want to start, I want to say, I should even say I
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want to start, I want to end this year with someone that I met
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almost, it's probably been 10 or more years ago and I met her through my
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husband she was working in Health Care Ministry in the church
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and when I met her the magic happened so I want to introduce you to Artra Green
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but for me I call her Sister Green so I'm gonna refer to her during this
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entire podcast at Sister Green but I want Artra Green to actually
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share with you a little bit about her bio and then we're going to get into conversation.
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Oh thank you Carmen for asking me to be on this podcast this is the first
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(podcast) I've been having fun with my people who
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call me about a blog podcast so I'm excited about being on the podcast today
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and I'm going to tell you a little bit about me
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my name is Artra May Stone Green and this is going to be just a little
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glimpse of what my life has been since I was born.
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I was born on the plantation in Saint Joseph Louisiana Delta Bridge
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and we my family was
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sharecroppers. We pick cotton for the man that owned the plantation.
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And it was a hard life for children we had to go to the fields from the sun up
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to the sun down. We had to chop the cotton, pick the cotton and if anyone ever know anything
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about cotton I'm not going to talk too much about it but I just want I know this new generation have never picked
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cotton. But when you pick cotton it has a little, you have to pull it out of the
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bud, I call it, and it has little thorns on it which stretches up your cuticles and
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they bleed as you pick in the cotton day after day. So as children we grew up
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picking cotton and hoeing cotton in the fields with our family.
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So this life was - it was bittersweet, I would say I thought we were poor and
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I'll tell you about that later because of my travels I found out that we wasn't as poor we thought we were.
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So as I grew up my family moved to California.
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I hadn't quite finished high school but I got married and had three children.
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And after I had my first two children I went to school and got
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my registered nurse. So I became a registered nurse. One of the dreams I had - when I was in the cotton fields
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- I remember in the cotton field thinking about
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it's a better life than this. So as I grew up and became a registered nurse. I
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worked in that field for 32 years and most of my work in there was in
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Pediatrics but I did work in med surg, I worked in triage, I worked in the
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emergency room, I worked a little while in all these places caring for patients, which I loved.
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And as I grew up as a child, I was a caring child - I helped my mother
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with my siblings. My mother had four girls and as I just said the life was
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hard on the on the plantation. So I helped my mother with my sisters. And
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anybody I saw struggling or anything as a child I would cry or I would try to go
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help and I'm gonna tell you this little thing, I don't want to take too long, but I know
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I had a caring heart because on the farm we grew chickens and pigs and so on and
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one day as a little child I was about five I ran over the little chicken
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and I cried for days and days and my mama said baby you didn't mean to do
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that but my heart has been a caring heart all my life.
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So as I said we are worked in the
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Pediatrics and then I had a chance in the early 90s to travel to Haiti which
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was one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere. But going to Haiti I said to
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myself they say it's so poor, I said no I know what poor is, but when I got there I
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had no idea. So going to Haiti changed my life when I
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saw people struggling. No food, no clothes, no shelter.
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And so it just tricked my heart to always, I came back home and I said if I
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can I will always try to help people that are poorer than me or that need my
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help. Whatever it is if it's one dollar, fifty cent, whatever - I’m gonna going to
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do that. So that’s, so since I went to Haiti I
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had a chance to travel to other places and see other struggles but I had not
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seen any as bad as Haiti. So I'm not sure Carmen but I I'm
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guess we're getting to how Helping Children came to be. Yes but,
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you know what, the the the story that you told really is a
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a beautiful segue in because your travels you always had that power of
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intention to do something and I and I hear it now. I'm reading a book called “The Power of Intention” and it it really
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is saying that you've always had it in you - it it just basically what it did is
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it blossomed as you begin to travel and see. So Haiti inspired you, but what I
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want to know is how did Helping Children Around the World really
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come to fruition. Because you had been a nurse all these years you had already lived your life and and now 2.0 comes
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into play and Helping Children Around the World makes his debut. Tell us a little bit about how
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it came to be. After leaving Haiti my friend and I went together, along
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with another group of missionaries, and when we came back I was working. We
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decided we're going to help people there - we helped them build houses, we helped them get food.
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And as long as we were working we just kept sending money to build houses for
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these people who were sleeping on the dirt ground. And so when I retired
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I don’t, I didn't have the means to keep doing what what I was
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doing and I wanted it to do and so one day… before that one day though I'm gonna say
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I had asked a couple of young people - I said I want to start a non-profit - I want
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you to start a non-profit so we can help people that we see in need. But nobody took it
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up and then one day I was sitting on my couch in my living room and something came into me
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up there and it says you talking about starting a non-profit
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you go do it yourself and I said I don't know how to start no non-profit
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I didn't I hear about them but I have no idea how to start a non-profit and I tell I
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don't know if any of you that's listening to me today know that things come to you it just comes up and talk to
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you in your mind. So I said okay I said well, I don’t, my
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computer is not working so get up go to the library and just look up how to
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plan a non-profit. How to do it and I
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said okay and don't look no further just take one step at a time.
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I did that I got up and I went down to the library here in Fairfield and I
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started - I just looked how to start a non-profit. And number one it tells you
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get the name and that's how the name came about - you have to go through the state to get the name. But anyway
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Helping Children was born then for the global vision that I had of helping our
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children. My Sister Green tell me when you started - when you got the name and you built the
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practice what was your mission? So after, I didn’t, I did what came up
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here one step at a time, got all got the name got everything you had to go
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through it was a lot of steps. And if I hadn't known the last steps of the way I probably
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wouldn't have went through with it - because it
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demanded money. You had to have money to get your
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non-profit - had to be tax exempt, state and federal and
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just so much. That it had steps that it had to do at that time. That's been
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about, oh God, I started it in 2014. So in that
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time they had all the steps that we had to go through. So
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after I got it and everything and everybody was so helpful on the way that
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I called I said now what I'm gonna do with it.
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So it came to me again said I want you to have a tea
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and I want you to have a garage sale just start with those two things.
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So you know starting a non-profit you do have to get a board so I had a secretary
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and a treasurer. The treasurer I called her and I said well I don't know how
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we're going to do the money thing. I said but it came to me about a tea and a garage (sale).
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So that's how we would, in my mind, to get the funds
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to Help the Children. Wow you know you know what what was very
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interesting to me is the steps that you took, because most people,
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most people would have looked and examined everything.
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The beauty of what you did is you dealt with it in portions so that it didn't
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overwhelm you, and that's really the now being in that moment of
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saying I just want to get this portion done, let's not look down the line,
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just start and so that's that's for me when I'm hearing this this is so
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powerful for other people to hear this. So when you when you actually began the
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process of the garage sales and the tea how was 
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Helping Children Around the World received by the community when you first started. Okay so it started, it
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was founded in 2014. 
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2015 they gave, the thought came in my mind February. So do it February the second
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week in February have a tea. And I'm going well where am I gonna have
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the tea? So I started looking and I think I
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was looking in the phone books because I wasn't too good on computers and looking for places and I went to all
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the places in Fairfield that, to the Community Center Library,
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different places to see if I could hold it there. Well most of the places I went
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it was really kind of expensive. So I don't know how, but I tell you
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there's something that guides you when you make up your mind and follow, I call
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it the spirit, and so it says there is
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Community Center where people older people live. Go
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over there and see if they have a room. I think I had been over there and visited some elderly people here in this
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facility. I can't think of where it is now it's over by uh Green Valley - not
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Green Valley but Ranchos Solano -  that's right. So I went there, I went in
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and I spoke with the lady at the desk and I told her the vision. I said well I just need a
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place for about 50 people. Do you have a conference room here? Well you will have
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non-profits come and I said I want to have a tea here for about 50 people.
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She said yeah we have a room for 50 people and I said oh I said well how
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much would it be she said you are a non-profit I said yes and she said well
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for non-profits it's free and she said if you're gonna have the tea we will provide the coffee and the
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tea. So that's how we got the first place. And when we got there
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I invited people, I didn't think I invited over 50 but the room overflowed.
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There was no room in the place! And when I think about it
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I get kind of emotional because I know there is something that
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guides you when you make up your mind to follow and I'm going to tell you what I
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call it I call it the Holy Spirit. So
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they said come and we invited people and they told people, I'm sure, because it was
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overflowing. So after that, was -
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so in the spring, I'm in the summer, June, I wanted to have the garage
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sale the same year, February the tea June the garage sale.
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Before the garage sale could be announced good - 
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my garage filled up that I couldn't hardly get my car in.
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And I go, I was just overwhelmed - I just couldn't believe it - but that is how it was
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received. Wow. He and what the other thing I missed when I said have the tea don't
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charge no funds, just tell the people what you want to do and what you want to
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have - don't charge nothing and from then on people kept saying,
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as we went through the years, they said why don't you charge and I said don't charge - if you have a heart - give, if not
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pray for us or give us something for the garage, whatever your heart tell you to do and
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people did it and have been doing it now for nine years. Wow, wow. So let me ask you
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this - so the beauty of your story is that from
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little comes much - it just kept
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coming. Can you tell me did you ever have doubts about failing,
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if so, how did you overcome them? I never had any doubts about failing - the
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only thing I had doubts about and I did I in my mind I didn't say I said
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whatever we have, whatever money we get or whatever funds we get we will help
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whoever we can help with that amount. And I said well I know it would help
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somebody. Because I know a lot of people, I've met people, who think that
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you have to do great big things to mean something. But I know that little things can count
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too. So I said okay I never said okay we
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can't fail because if we have five dollars we're going to split that if somebody need a meal you know we're
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gonna do that - so I never thought about failing at all - I just thought
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that it wouldn’t, you know, I wouldn't be able to do as much as we
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did, have done. I'll put it that way. So that leads to my next question -
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in your 10 years and you're moving into your 10th year now. Yes. Can you tell us,
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give us a little glimpse of the people you've helped or the locations you've helped with because
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you're helping children around the world give us an idea of of who you've helped.
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Well I I'll tell you I had asked the treasurer of the some time ago to
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give me um a readout of all the funds that we have
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collected through the years and I can't believe what she's I think
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now this has been about two years ago that I asked to that and I'm just putting this in and I
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believe she said about $40,000. But I will tell you that we have helped
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children in earthquake areas in Haiti, we helped children in Puerto Rico with the, I
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think it was the storm, the hurricane, we've helped people in Louisiana, we have
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people in the Congo, we helped people in
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California and Texas with water, food,
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educational backpacks, all kind of school supplies
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because that is our mission to provide clean water,
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food, education to children around the
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world. We have sent to children in Haiti - 
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didn't have lights to study at home. I saw them studying under the
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street light all together around under the street lights. So we have sent
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oh God what you call those the (solar battery) lights that they make it it's like a
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computer and it gives light to the home and of the school. Okay it's like a
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suitcase. We have sent those over so the kids could have lights. But we have
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helped people in Ghana. Like I said, and just, I'm sure I'm leaving out now - 
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Georgia, we just helped all around whenever we heard of a hurricane and
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I'll tell you this - the Lord I have to say that he just directed our steps
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we would find churches that was working in that area we would
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talk to them to make sure that they went to wherever they got the supplies of
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water and they would send us pictures and show us what they were doing so we
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have just been blessed with churches, non-profits, to work through - to do these
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things. Wow wow. What a blessing. From a
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mustard seed. Yeah. And I
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bring up the scripture he said you know he'll plow out the wonders of heaven and blow out your blessing you
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won't be able to receive and for us helping children has been a big blessing
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to so many children. You know Sister Green the reason why I
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thought about you is because I talked to women and men all the time
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in my coaching practice about this next step, this 2.0, this preparation for what
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you're going to do. A lot of people don't really
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prepare for it and so when it touches you in a way that allows
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you to do something that really was on your heart from the beginning and now
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the time that you have allows you to do it Much More. Much more freely.
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Yes. Yes. What advice would you give to women who are, and men, who are preparing
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to retire or preparing for that career change because what you've done is
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it just is so moving and so
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helpful to the world. Can you talk a little bit about you
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know what advice you give them in terms of preparing to do something not
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necessarily same but do something to find their purpose. Okay I don't have much to say other than
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follow your heart, follow your mind, don't get scared, take one step at a time and
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go. I heard of the minister from Canada said
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where you see God working go there and work you don't have to
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invent anything. If you see a need or something and it's telling you to go - go
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there! You can work behind the scenes, you don't have to make a big name, you can do it so and don't be
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afraid of failing. Because if you fail - you can't fail
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really because if you fail you still learn. So I would tell anybody and I tell
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all these young people that I'm there if your heart is telling you to do something or to get up and go somewhere
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and that's it and go and so when you get my age, 85
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and you don't have no I wish I had helped I wish I you know
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I said no. If something you want to do just try it
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and go for it. Wow, wow. That's beautiful.
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But, you know, what I want to reflect back on that little girl from Louisiana and I
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want to know what you would tell your younger self about what you've
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accomplished and how you did it? What would you tell Artra Green.
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Okay, you know, I wrote one of these days I will share with you
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to Carmen. I wrote a letter, I call it a note - 
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to myself. It's to me. And I got the
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inspiration to write this letter from Joe Biden when his son died.
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He wrote a letter to himself. So I wrote one to myself. But I said and I say to
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myself now - I say to me myself - I say Artra
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when you were growing up in that cottonfield,
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when you were a little girl, did you ever think
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that you would help so many people and that you will go so many places
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and so that's what I could say about…
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Yeah that's beautiful. That's beautiful. So I want to ask you something that's
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so important because you are into your 10th year but I want to know
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what do you want the legacy for yourself and the legacy of Helping Children
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Around the World to be? What is that legacy? I have talked to the
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to the directors a little bit about that
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and it's very very simple, I told them, I said I'm hoping
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that someone that hears about Helping Children Around the World
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will care so much about the children that they will let this helping children
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go on for years and years to come. But if not
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that they can turn it over to a non-profit
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that has the children as their mission so that's just that simple.
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That’s beautiful. So I'm gonna
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we're going to venture down to the premise of my podcast is called
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authentically you and I named it authentically you because
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a lot of times we walk through life
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not being fully ourselves. So
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this podcast is really to show that if you show yourself,
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if you show who you are and whose you are that the support
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comes to you that that the mission that you're on continues to flow
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and I want to know what makes Artra Green authentically you?
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I thought about that question and you know I never thought about being
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authentic but I know when I was growing up my mama
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I'm always taught us be yourself.
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God made you. There's not another you nowhere in this
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world. So be you. And so I think from a little girl on,
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and in fact my son asked me and my mother and my aunt aunties when
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working, well you'll never know you generation never know about working in
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the fields and in Jim Crow time - little black girls and children always
30:54
kind of held their heads down but our
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family around us said hold your head up
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because what they say about you is not true. So you be you and so we tried to do
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that as children, although we were beaten down and called of the “N” word and all of this during
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that time, we still try to do that. And then the other thing they taught
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was to tell the truth, be truthful
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don't steal, treat everybody good regardless to who
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they are and so I don't know if that means that
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you’re authentic - but that's me. I
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don't look down on nobody, everybody is important and I cry so much now about the homeless
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on the streets and people you see but oh that's somebody's child and most of all
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it's God. God made us all and we all have value regardless to if
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you're the president or you the lowest people on the Earth you have value
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because he made you. So everybody… I
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tell young people and my grandchildren to be you don't worry about nobody else any of you
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make a mistake own up to your mistake don't blame nobody else okay I did it I did wrong
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apologize I'm sorry and you know be honest with people.
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Boy you have given me some nuggets of wisdom you know every time we talk we
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you know it's just beautiful but that is just the plus. But here's what I want to
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want you to share - if there are users that are listening to this podcast how can they contribute to
33:14
how Helping Children Around the World. Well if they listen to this broadcast we
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have a website that they can go to and look there and let me see if I can give you
33:29
the website I think I can I think it’s…
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sometimes the old mind don't remember it well but it's
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www.helpingchildrenworld.org
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helping children around the world uh you know just helping children World okay
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Wonderful, wonderful. And you can also email us at info@helpingchildrenworld.org
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Wonderful, wonderful. So Sister Green you
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know what I chose the holiday time to do this because I think it's a gift
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what you're doing with Helping Children Around the World is a gift that continues to give.
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And you and I have sat in the room together and we have talked
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about what our mission is. So I am honored today that you spend this time
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to tell the world about your mission because it is so beautiful
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and really what what happens with little kids they become older kids so
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they become the adults yes and they understand what their purpose in life is so I thank you today that you have
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graced our podcast or my podcast with Helping Children Around the World
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and you know that I'm going to be with you through it all. Well thank you. Thank you
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so much. Thank you so much. Wonderful.