Life is a journey that takes us on many pathways, meeting many different people.  I show you those who are suffering so you don't forget them.  As well as I show you  little bits and piece of people's lives, and things that caught my eye and captured the moment. 

When I was a young girl, I had been abused for much of my young life.   Because of dysfunction in our home, I was sent away to institutions to live back in the 1950s, when children didn’t have a voice.  I was abused there as well for years.  When I was finally released, I was unable to speak and so wounded that I had the lowest self esteem you can imagine.

I did not allow this to stop me from giving everything I had to serve God who called me to be a Dominican, where I couldn’t imagine any place more that I wouldn’t fit in. They were highly educated; I didn't go to high school.  They were Popes, Theologians, Teachers, and Preachers and I was simple and very wounded. Later, I learned that everyone is wounded in one way or another.  What makes the difference is the commitment, the determination, the focus on really being a servant for God.. "a servant of the servants" as St Catherine of Siena put it and never give up like St Paul did, after living through all kinds of trials.                                                                                            

I followed my calling and continued on in spite of injustices coming even from leaders in the church who never bothered to know me.. never understood my life. I wasn’t silent of who I was,  what I went through as a young girl. Some people are uncomfortable with truth when it comes to abuse. People don't want to know. 

No one can learn unless you share.  People can live through a broken life and still make a difference in this world.

No matter what anyone thinks of you, if you are trying to do good, never give up even if people in our church or communities don’t care about you or what you went through nor ever showed you the kindness of love or understanding.  God understands all and in the end, He brings all to good.

My work has taken me to the Gulf War and the Bosnian War.  I worked twelve years helping the African refugees stranded in Rome, moving them into Canada and the United States.

I brought a number of children and adults to the United States for medical care.  The work that I have been involved in the longest is using dogs as a tool to help break down barriers for prisoners incarcerated for serious crimes.  Dogs love us unconditionally and through love, people start to feel their pain, and joy.  Then they can be reached.

The prisoners then pass this on and train the dog that helped them, to help a handicapped person so the dog can assist them with their daily living.

PHOTOGRAPHY became very important to me to share with others something that I saw that was meaningful to me along my journey. I like to capture this moment in time so I can reflect on it, remember it and hopefully learned something from what I saw. 

Sr Pauline Quinn op

email            srpauline@pathwaystohope.org

You can see some of my work on these other sites.

http://prisondogs.blogspot.com

http://prisondogs.shutterfly.com

http://www.picturetrail.com/srpauline

http://srpaulina.blogspot.com/

http://srpauline.webs.com/

http://pathwaystohope.blogspot.com

                                   Order of Preachers