Welcome to tokoni

      Although I was born in Waverly Ohio, at the foot of the Appalachian hills I never had any idea of the poverty and hunger that was nearby .

       In the eighties I was living in New York city.  A friend of mine became a Missionary of Charity nun with Mother Teresa of Calcutta and invited me to watch her take her vows.  After meeting Mother Teresa I became a co-worker and worked with poor people in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Mexico, Washington D.C., South Africa and Calcutta.

      I did whatever work was needed, helping to cook food in soup kitchens, sorting clothes to be given to people who needed them, teaching English as a second language to refugees and translating from Spanish or French into English.  I changed diapers for babies rescued by Mother Teresa.  I loved the work.  It made me happier than I've ever been.  I forgot any problems I might have and tried to help others solve their problems which made mine look insignificant.

      When I returned to Ohio after working with Mother Teresa, my friend Loretta and my sister Susie invited me to deliver food, blankets and gifts to the poor people in the mountains and hollows of Appalachia near our home.

The weather was 20 degrees, below freezing and we were all bundled up.  I could not believe how these poor people lived, just miles from where I was born.   Sometimes there was a large family living in a one room wooden shack with no heat, no running water.  SOme of them were not even wearing shoes. I remembered how Mother Teresa had told us to look for Calcutta in our own backyard and begin by helping our neighbors.  I did it backwards but at least I finally discovered the need in my own neighborhood and do a little to help.