Moving On

First, before I write anything else…

Thank you.

You don’t know how uplifting it is to hear from each and every one of you, offering your perspectives and encouragement. I’m feeling much more at peace about the entire situation, with the assumption that my insurance will work with me to help me start over. To clarify real quick…all of the footage is safe with Joe, so we didn’t lose our work for the past 6 months. And what you’ve all been saying is completely right : it’s about the experience, and not the keepsakes. I’m just glad that I’ve been somewhat able to share the experience with all of you along the way. Now you’ll just have to listen to me describe things more than taking the easy way out and showing pictures.

Ethiopian Airlines was kind enough to put me in a hotel last night, in Addis Ababa, because they changed their flight schedule after it had been booked. I stayed in a somewhat fancy hotel for ambassadors and UN workers, and remembered what it’s like to lay on the couch and watch real television (and use a gym for the first time in 6 months). Addis seems like a beautiful and intriguing city – the minarets woke me at around 5am and have been broadcasting ever since. Unfortunately I wont get to explore much, as I leave this afternoon for a night’s stay in London, and then continue on to California.

That’s it for now. Just needed and wanted to say thank you. It means alot to me to know that you’re all out there. I’ll leave you with a quote that my Uncle Rob left in the comments yesterday, which really helped me change my perspective.

“The boy who is going to make a great man… must not make up his mind not merely to overcome a thousand obstacles, but to win in spite of a thousand defeats.”
Theodore Roosevelt

Huntington Beach Independent

I can’t help but think about the question raised about fashion while reading this…

Huntington Beach Independent on OHS.

CCF: Austin Mann

Last week, friend and inspirational photographer, Austin Mann came to visit Arusha as part of a 2 month job to shoot orphanages in 12 countries around the world. Here is a recent link to his blog, Trek, in which he wrote about his first impressions of the CCF town center and posted a few pictures from inside.

Najaribu

Here is a blog post that OHS volunteer Julia Yu wrote recently. I think it thoughtfully expresses what a lot of the volunteers that come here go through – and uncovers the thought process that takes place when we try to come into a different country to ‘answer all of their problems’. Yesterday Julia and I talked about how much the volunteers can realistically accomplish in 10 weeks…and how hard it will be for them to break away after that period of bonding with our kids.

Julia Yu : Najaribu (I’m trying)

Moja Upendo : Dustin O’Hara

I received a comment on my recent post (Moja Updendo) from a good friend and inspirational artist, Dustin O’Hara. I think that his perspective is so well articulated, that I felt obligated to post it in order to continue the discussion and offer a new view on this topic of compassion. From Dustin:

“It seems making one’s life and work an expression of compassion is key. Compassion being, in the most formal sense, a space for difference. I think it can be understood as a scaleable idea, starting with how one treats oneself. Allowing for the differences you find in yourself to exist, and finally on a social-political scale, where one could ideally describe a material and social landscape that is the actualization of a community living out compassion.