New York, N.Y. There exists a large population of bright home attendants in New York City from around the world, often burdened with family obligations coupled with low incomes. These people, many women, often wish for a better life through the acquisition of nursing skills. At the same time, there is a nursing shortage in [...]
Archive | 2008
Ending Orphanages Globally
New York, N.Y. The mission of Orphans International Worldwide, which began as “Raising Global Citizens,” has now expanded. Today our mission statement has evolved through ten years of experience coupled with a continued vision into “Ending Orphanages Globally.” An ambitious goal. This was my announcement at the Orphans International Worldwide Congress IV held at N.Y.U. [...]
Reflections on a Two-Year Assignment: Build an NGO in Sri Lanka
Unawatuna, Sri Lanka. As I prepare to return to the global office in New York, I have been reflecting on my two-year assignment to set up and manage Orphans International Worldwide (OIWW) Sri Lanka with local staff. It has been some of the most wonderful experience working closely with the local team members. Even if [...]
Can We Change Perceptions? “The Obscenity of NGOs”
Port-au-Prince, Haiti. “I hate the international community who came to my country to ”˜save us!’ I despise their portrayal of Haiti as one of abject poverty and flooding! They make 100 times the salary of ordinary Haitians, drive enormous vehicles, and buy the services of our boys and girls! It is obscene!” So began my [...]
Will a Vow of Poverty Fill the Void In My Soul?
As I approach my fiftieth birthday, I am feeling incomplete. Part of me – my soul? – is still missing. In secular terms, I think I am not yet in touch with the best way to serve humanity. In theological terms, I would say I have yet to stumble upon God’s full plan for my [...]
The Dominican Republic and the Office of the First Lady
Santo Domingo, D.R. It is not often that an Ambassador from the United Nations invites you to his country to meet the spouse of the president. When this unlikely event does occur, it is best to drop everything and go. So I went, arriving in the Dominican Republic in early December 2005. The First Lady of the Dominican [...]
Life Carries On For Tsunami Orphans of OI Worldwide
Banda Aceh, Indonesia. After much apprehension, our staff in Sumatera took the children to the beach as they had pleaded to do. We should not have worried – our laughing children frolicked in the ocean waves as if they had not lost their entire families to a giant wave only six months earlier. Our children around the world, [...]
Eyewitness: Working to Serve AIDS Orphans (7/04)
New York, N.Y. The first open forum I held on AIDS orphans was in July 2004 in New York City. The Rev. Bill Tully, rector of St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, my minister, welcomed me to the St. Bart’s Rector’s Forum to discuss our plan to assist in the AIDS orphan epidemic. I spoke on AIDS orphans to [...]
