Assisting us in coordinating these awards are four outstanding ladies who are Women of Courage in their own right.

Presenting:

Carla Cash
http://community.adlandpro.com/go/245569/default.aspx

Veronica Davidson
http://community.adlandpro.com/go/vdavidson1972/default.aspx 

Joyce Hyde
http://community.adlandpro.com/go/031849/default.aspx

Pauline Raina           http://community.adlandpro.com/go/301079/default.aspx

Aparna Ganguli         http://community.adlandpro.com/go/blukiwi/default.aspx

Geketa Holman        http://community.adlandpro.com/go/313726/default.aspx

Terry Gorley
http://community.adlandpro.com/go/169711/default.aspx

Our Sweethearts of Courage

Shirley Caron http://community.adlandpro.com/go/scaronpoet2005/default.aspx

Michael Caron        http://community.adlandpro.com/go/192260/default.aspx

And Adlands very own man of Courage

John Partington http://community.adlandpro.com/go/114695/default.aspx

WE PRESENT TO YOU OUR THIRTY THIRD

WOMAN OF COURAGE 

Branka Babic

http://community.adlandpro.com/go/EloElu/default.aspx

Thank you Terry Gorley for a simply awesome nomination.

Branka's story will be left in her own words, as to change any part of it removes her heart.

Branka, you are a very courageous and loving lady.  You deserve the very best.  May God bless you always.

I was born on 2nd of October 1961 in a village about 54 km far from capital of my ex country Yugoslavia, as a first of two daughters.  At this time, specially at village, there were big families living together. For example: all my grandaddy's brothers and their sons and grandchildren, and this family could reach over 50 persons living under one roof.  Pater familias (the oldest man in family) had all power and governance. Women were treated as a lower range beings.  No one was talking about love. Duty was the most common word.

Fortunately (it can sound bad, but it's truth) my country was ruined after WW second and a lot of men go to work in Germany, Italy, Holland, France and over the ocean (USA, Australia) and thanks to the influence of modern life they could see there, all relationships come to change in a great speed. When I was 3 years old my parents Theodore and Ljubica (Violet) took my sister and me and moved us to a town, where they had built our family house.

My school days began at the age of 7.  I was excellent, gifted in arts, maths, physics and 100% untalented only in geography.  Always I was communicative, altruist and I had a lot of friends.  Communism has created a competitive way of life, so each had a great enthusiasm and my country, with all traditional customs, was changing day after day.  Atheism allowed gods in human form to go along streets, but as is usually with gods, they were untouchable.  Only in this period from 1945 - 1991 my country benefited a lot living between East Block (Warsaw Pact) and West (NATO).  We could travel world wide, read foreign magazines, listen to music and do all what people in other countries, living under communistic governance, even could dream about.

In my teen-age years. I listened to Bob Dylan, The Osmond Brothers, Sweets, Rolling Stones, Beatles, Terry Jacks, Mirelle Mathieu and all playing French chansons etc.  A classics music was always what I prefer and the most of all Claude Debussy, Chopin, Strauss.

After finishing Grammar School, I studied Philosophy and after finishing it I started learning to be a professional massage therapist.  When I have discovered massage, a profession that can take all of my too much energy, I thought I was born again.  Now I am for 21 years a very good massage therapist, with a thousands of very ill and handicapped people who are much better after my treatments.  A lot of people describe my massage as miraculous.  For example, a person suffering from consequences following a stroke I can help and in about 10 days and they can move their leg and arm again.  Honestly, all miracles of my massage therapy come only through a great love for this job, my knowledge and from feeling where is a stuck point of energy. So, nothing miraculous.

I am a single parent of Luka who is near 18.  After our divorce, his father Daroslav never, never asked for him.  That's life.  He was 10 months old when I was imprisoned.  I spent 87 days under investigation.  A civil war in my country didn't begin at this moment (the end of October 1990), but political tensions were so strong.  As a hard worker I could say I was rich.  These days a lot of rich people of my nationality were killed.  I had a very, very good luck (!?) and I was only imprisoned.  Incrimination which I was investigated for were ............ so terrible.  I couldn't imagine how should I prove my innocence.  My crying time is seldom (thank you Terry, you reminded me today !).  But this day, 24th of December 1990 , while I have heard that my son already had two teeth, and I might not see him again, I couldn't stop crying.  At 11 PM I have fallen on my prisoner's bed and, for the very first time in my life, I said inside, in my heart: Lord, why did you leave me alone?  After that all my senses were embraced with uncommon peace.  After one more month I was free.  I am sure that this freedom came after my first prayer.  But, I didn't know much about any religion, and I didn't know any of prayers.  So, again as a free person. I felt a strong impulse to discover my spiritual path, MY OWN TRUTH.

Until my 30th year my soul was fed by Classic Germans Philosophy and my favourite Friedrich Nietzsche.  So, religion was so far from me.  These days only what I could perceive is that, in some strange way, I am not alone. After prison I received another call from hell master: a divorce.  My ex husband and his family hated me and our son.  A great psychics and social torture opened me a door of deeper observation about life.  If I allowed this machine to do with me all what it is programmed to do, I knew, I am lost!

Here in my country we say that the worst Juda's course is "I pray God to give you all what you want and then to take all these from you."  Ho-ho!  My next lesson was right this one.  Divorce was not finished yet when a civil war began.  Luka was 16 months and I had only a few pampers and him in my arms when I reached a state of refugee.  Foreign surroundings, no one friend ... Next few war years I had a unique opportunity to see how humans can be strong, smart and that no one feeling is so authentic and marvelous as a positive compassion.  When I say "positive compassion" it's because I miss the right English word to tell how wrong is to be sad about any circumstance.  There's no good, nor bad.  All what comes, comes to show us the whole of our capacity.  We may never be asked a questions that we don't have instruments to answer them.  So, I didn't suffer, instead I make decision to retrieve all my generic wisdom. 

My Serbian nationality was demonised and anathematised world wide.  We were under international isolation for years.  Days and days I spent looking for bread or milk or oil, sugar, detergent, together with hundreds around me.  Each time I could make a great fun and make them laugh and start thinking differently.

In this dirty game of great political actors, all nations in ex Yugoslavia suffered a lot.  Blood, blood, blood ... In Bosnia and Croatia each house owe to neighbor minimal one human head.  That occurred a third time in past century: 1914-1918, 1941-1945 and 1991-1995. For other parts of ex-Yu war finished after Agreement in Dayton, but my country Serbia was privileged to be bombed in 1999.  Sixteen most power army forces came to bomb us, about 10.000.000 inhabitants, for humanitarian reasons. Operation was called "Angel of Mercy".

After all these events, through which I have spent 17 the best years of my life, I can say that I dream about a better world and I'm sure it'll come very soon.  A mankind shouldn't have a choice.  We have to realize a selfish and destructive manners and to relate to each other as Karen Danrich say: "A god/goddess within myself honor a god/goddess within you".  Karen Danrich is Director of Spiritual School of Ascension where I have found a lot of spiritual materials that helped me a lot to develop my wholeness. Whether someone have aspirations for self-development or not, I recommend these materials as something really new and priceless. http://www.ascendpress.org./

I write poetry, novels and essays and some of them were published in my country.  Very much I enjoy cooking, making wonderful cakes, gardening, knitting; I enjoy all what I do each moment of day.

*********

Please invite Branka to be your friend.

http://community.adlandpro.com/go/EloElu/default.aspx

Flowers for you dear Branka.