TRAVEL UPDATE:
I am in the town of Namche Bazaar, located at almost 11,000 feet in the Himalayas. Today, I saw Mt. Everest for the first time... yet even more amazing are the people, valleys, rivers, and mountains that immediately surround this place. If there was a chairlift and more snow, I might consider this heaven :) We took a rest day here to acclimatize before heading out on the rest of our trek/ski expedition in these AMAZING mountains! Some picture highlights below at the bottom of this post, but first some thoughts from my travel to Nepal:
OPPORTUNITY IS EVERYWHERE
Raj is 23, speaks incredible English in addition to two dialects of Nepali, and is struggling to make a living selling Hashish on the streets. Truth be told, he was a brilliant salesman. He almost convinced me (who is vehemently opposed to smoking anything) to buy some. He tried to sell me this incredible vision of 'Heaven' which involved a "view of Everest, a beer, and just one smoke of hash" as he kissed his fingers to the sky. He has skills, but in this city, he is limited by past precedences and numerous other barriers. He moved to Kathmandu from his home village in the mountains to go to school and learn English. He excelled at that, but now, he is struggling to get by.
Kathmandu could have been so much more. Clean, prosperous, educated and desirable... Instead traffic moves in a perpetual state of impending accidents, with kids, cows and pedestrians trying to find their way across unorganized streets. Electric wires hang precipitously on the sides of buildings waiting to ensnare a poor victim, the air quality is worse than LA, the buildings look as if a 3.0 earthquake would flatten this place, and I won't even attempt to paint a picture of the human waste and garbage situation...
I'm sure there are factors beyond my understanding that led to things the way they are, but I can't help but think that short-term thinking got in the way of quality of life and prosperity of millions of inhabitants. And for me, the hardest part of this to digest is that the people of Kathmandu are, by any comparison, some of the kindest, calmest, and most patient people I have met. And that is what is so hard to stomach... that these WONDERFUL people are exposed to such unhealthy conditions.
I think the same goes for us as individuals. There is opportunity for quality of life and prosperity if we take the time to envision it. Never settle, demand more, and go for it.
Side note:
I'm pleased to hear about Next Generation Nepal, Room to Read, and Little Princes (to name a few) that are trying to improve the lives of children here, but I can't help but wonder, what happens to healthy and educated children in a place like this? How can we help and ensure that the next generation, which is healthier and more educated than any before it, to start envisioning and seizing opportunities?
Authors note: I hesitated to post this blog entry as it could be interpreted as critical in nature. I have the utmost respect for the people of Nepal and wish them all a bright, healthy, and prosperous future. In fact, I wish this for all citizens of this planet. As I continue my travels, I consistently pose myself the question: "How can we spread health and wealth from the most fortunate areas to the least?" While piece-by-piece contributions like schools, hospitals, food donations, etc. are important, it is my belief that without a vision for a brighter future that is for the people and by the people, I don't think positive long-lasting change is possible. Based on my research, co-investment models seems to be the most effective - especially from the planning side. Perhaps we don't need more people, funds and organizations investing here, we just need them to do it more effectively under a more unified vision. Your thoughts?
Mark, I Love the post, as with the rest of them. I totally agree with co-investment (with an understanding of that being the locals contributing financially to the start-up) in that it creates a sense of urgency, ownership, sense of personal value, and a greater attachment to the success/failure.
ReplyDeleteI often struggle too with the concept of needing more people, because you look around at where a project is being done and there is more than enough people, with more than enough horsepower, but why are they not doing anything!?!?! Often times there is an educational element, but even if you ask those people what needs to be done, they can often times present great ideas, but they are still not doing it! That is what blows me away. I suppose I do that same thing in my life on a different scale, but ultimately I suppose I agree that without a vision, that is clear and regularly referenced it is impossible to incite the discipline with a cause.
Unifying a vision or motivation, now that is a tricky one, which I know you are skilled at as an individual, but how does one “rally the troops” if you will, for the “unified vision”. Not everyone has the natural leadership skills, presentation skills, abilities to analyze a person and derive how to their emotional attachment or even to create an emotional attachment in the moment with the same vigor that you do. Not everyone can look combine vision, intellect, drive, and action and I applaud your efforts to teach the world to “fish”, and why I am excited to learn from you and I am excited for the people you meet along your journey for the same reason!
I guess this all comes back to your Elephant, Rider, Path, but figuring a way to either define those 3 for everyone, or derive a community leader with the vision and teach them to share the vision with the people, which then comes full circle to your idea that having a vision and then unifying it creates the positive upward whirlwind, in that the more people you have to share the vision, the more momentum it will gain, the more ears and eyes it will reach, once again, towards a UNIFIED vision. This is kinda fun, that it wraps back around to the Chalk Talk video on empathy and ultimately we need to be community mined and that the ultimate goal must be to grow our community to a global level.
2 questions for you: for you, where it he intersection between creating a vision and living in the moment? How does that fit with being “spiritually” driven? And how does one define “positive” change? OK, maybe that was 3 questions :)
I think you struck something in me, as I could write and discuss on this for hours. I’ll leave it at that though. Miss ya bud!
I was kinda excited the other day when I got to bring some of this full circle in a board meeting with I Love Baseball. We have been trying to get more structured and more efficient with transfer of information from the US to the DR, amidst our board, and from ILB to our listeners I was able to deliver what I thought was a pretty awesome chat on creating a unified vision amongst everyone who touches the program thanks to this little blog post here. Thanks for the insight and inspiration.
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU for reading, Brian, and super excited to hear that the ILB meeting went well!!! And thanks for the questions above... my answers:
ReplyDelete1. Living in "the now" is super important... but without a purpose or "vision" of what you want to be, I think living in "the now" can be dangerous if we seek too much immediate pleasure... so take a little time every year or every few months to reflect on your purpose, and determine
2. "Spiritually driven" is pretty vague :), but regardless of your belief/religion/spirituality we will all benefit from becoming better people and serving others... in my humble opinion.
3. Positive change is so different to so many... how about this: Helping achieve a more sustainable and equitable world by being environmentally conscious and empowering others to improve their situations, while instilling dignity.