New York, N.Y. I met an incredible individual, Liz Doles, who also happens to be a talented artist last week at the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the U.N. We bonded immediately. Having been off-and-on in Sri Lanka (and Indonesia) for a number of years working with orphans following the 2004 Tsunami, I had [...]
Tag Archives: Tsunami
Following Floods, MetLife Brings Life to Pakistan Village
New York, N.Y. I know from living in Haiti that after more than one year from its disaster, so little has been done. It was with amazement that I discovered MetLife — based in that cool building on Bryant Park and in the Snoopy commercials — was on the ground in Pakistan in less than [...]
Balinese Natural Birthing Center Threatened by Global Downturn
Denpasar, Indonesia. Mid-wife and clinic founder Robin Lim is a legend in the world of women’s maternity health. I have heard of her from Port-au-Prince in Haiti to New-York to Denpasar. Recently I received a note that her natural birthing clinic in Bali known as Bumi Sehat (“healthy mother earth”) is in desperate need of operating funds. [...]
Let Us Not Waste The Limited Number of Hours We Have Left
New York, NY. 9/11 brings back haunting memories. Having buried by brother and mother almost back-to-back just before 9/11, losing all three of my life-long mentors over the passing years, and recently burying my father and step-mother, death to me is no longer a stranger. My grasp of our human fragility stems from watching the [...]
Indonesian Orphaned Children Grow – and Go Mainstream
Manado, Indonesia. In 2001 Orphans International Worldwide (OIWW) built its first full-care project in Indonesia, outside Manado in predominantly Christian North Sulawesi. Over the next decade OIWW would build a short-term, full-care project in predominantly Hindu Bali and a three-year full-care program after the Tsunami in predominantly Muslim Aceh. The capital city of Manado is [...]
Failed States: Index Quantifies that Feeling in My Gut
United Nations, N.Y. What is a failed state? Building orphanages and orphan care programs around the world, I have dealt in terrible conditions, where the government — and even people — have been broken. Aceh and Sri Lanka after the Tsunami, and Haiti after Hurricane Jeanne and the recent earthquake to name only a few. [...]
Live from Leogane: College Prep Leadership Training Begins for our Orphan Mentors
The College Prep Leadership Training Program of Orphans International Worldwide (OIWW) Haiti launched this week at l’Ecole de la Redemption in Leogane, 18 miles west of Port-au-Prince. Forty students, chosen from almost 200 applicants, are studying to be mentors to the orphaned children of OIWW Haiti. Each of these children survived the earthquake. In the [...]
Eyewitness: Haiti Has Improved Somewhat in Last Two Months
Léogâne, Haiti. I am sitting in the office of Belo Water in Léogâne, Haiti, on the first morning of my 21st trip here. This is my second trip since the terrible January 12 earthquake described by Ban-ki Moon as the worst natural disaster of our times. Having been in Indonesia and Sri Lanka after the [...]
