Memories of Malawi

I went to Malawi this past February. I went alone. I didn't know who would be there other than Philippe Van den Bossche, director Raising Malawi. I didn't know him personally and I certainly didn't know what to expect.

I stayed at the Kumbali Lodge, a private family-owned farm. This is the car they sent to pick me up. How cool! It set the tone for the whole trip.

The Lodge was a dream. Majestic room -- striking because of the huge white bed net draping down from the ceiling. Private balcony. Big bathroom. Home-made everything fresh off the farm. I could have stayed at the lodge the whole time and had an amazing vacation. But that's not why I went.

I came to see where exactly the funds we sent to Raising Malawi were going and to decide for myself if this was something I could/should continue to put my energy into. I was lucky enough -- or fated, or something -- to make friends with Janja, one of the producers down there getting an update for the charity. She invited me to join her on most of her interviews, so all I had to do was wake up at the crack of dawn and tag along.

On my visit, I experienced some of the saddest conditions and circumstances of my life – I choke up just thinking about them.

And yet, I am deeply inspired by the progress we’re making in real time.

I watched orphan care centers and feeding centers being built. That's Janja and Kevin getting an update.

I watched women and children pumping fresh water from a borehole we installed for the nearby peri-urban village. I met hundreds of curious children delighted (and sometimes frightened) to see a "Mazungu" (white person) in their village.

I met hundreds of sweet little orphans with not a single toy to play with -- nothing but each other, but happy and managing all the same.

I witnessed a lot full of children who walked barefoot tens of miles (yep) in the cold and sometimes pouring rain in tattered clothes only to wait hours in line for a ration of food – a heavy bag of grain to carry on their pea-sized heads all the way back home.

Typically, this burden falls to children because their parents can’t do it. One is usually sick or working. The other is usually dead.

That's Nathan on the left. He was down there to make a documentary for Madonna. It was his fifth? sixth trip? I forget, but he has been on assignment there for a long time. He's almost a local. People know him by name. He was very cool, and seemed to care as much about the people of Malawi as he did about getting his story.

On this day I did everything in my power to keep myself from a public display of upset. I wanted to scream! It was one of my first days on the trip and I felt so compelled to hug, help, warm the littlest shivering children -- give them my jacket, sarong, money, something! But I didn't, under strict counsel.

There are just too many of them. And because I was with the Raising Malawi crowd, I had to play by their rules of engagement.

Besides, you can’t just give a child a jacket and stop the cold. You can’t just throw money at a problem and expect it to go away.

Raising Malawi proposes to not only address the basic human needs for survival, but also build out the infrastructure so that survival will no longer be a daily concern.

I walked through a cornfield we helped to fertilize that yielded enough crop to feed 850 more children than the year before.

I met people who inspired me to be a better person. Smiling children who taught me to smile more. Grateful people who reminded me to be grateful for all I have. Strong men and women who shattered my ideas of what deserves drama. Dying mothers and fathers who showed me how much I complain. It makes me embarrassed to think how much I still need to learn. But I am learning, and for that I am proud. And very grateful to the people of Malawi for giving me so much of what I don't already have.

I ended my trip with a big shindig at the Lodge with new friends, great food and live Malawian music. It was a trip to remember and one that will stay with me forever.

Partners In Health is in Malawi!

I first heard about Partners in Health when I was doing research on extreme poverty about a year ago. I was watching a slide show about the Millennium Development Goals: How to Change the World by 2015.

I have a link to it on this blog if you're at all interested (The Plan to End Extreme Poverty). The presentation was put on by The Earth Institute at Columbia University, which is directed by Jeffrey Sachs.

Anyway, when you get to "Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases", you'll see this picture (courtesy Partners in Health). I have carried it in my head for more than a year now.

It changed everything for me. In an instant, my perspective shifted from woe and hopelessness (so sad that this is happening. Too bad there is nothing I can do about it) to a sense of urgency -- Are you kidding me? That's the same guy?! All he needed was ARVs (meds)?!

The "before" guy can't work the fields or provide for his family, but how about the "after" guy? If we get pills to the before guy, we won't have to spend as much on the AIDs orphans. Because there won't be any!

And yes, I think we need to do more to educate and prevent against AIDs and other diseases, but we have to stop the bleeding first. The only reason that people stopped dying in droves in America from HIV/AIDs is because they got medicine.

So anyway, I am delighted to report that Partners in Health recently launched a new project in Nemo, an impoverished rural area in Malawi.

The government and Ministry of Health invited PIH based on its success and track record in rebuilding the public health infrastructure in Haiti, Peru, Cuba, Russia and Rwanda.

I'm reading the Tracy Kidder, Pulizer Prize winning book, "Mountains Beyond Mountains." It's the story of Dr. Paul Farmer, Founding Director of Partners In Health.

It talks about how he grew up a poor boy in Birmingham, Alabama -- like really poor; they lived in a bus -- and went on to kick ass at Harvard Medical School, all the time while working hands-on to provide care to the poorest of the poor in Haiti.

He was a total renegade. Steal from the rich (like meds out of the cabinet at the lab in Boston) to treat the poor. And he was smart. He has all these novel and unorthodox views about human rights (like, we all have them regardless of our social status) and just kept pushing and pushing till he got noticed. In reading this book, it's clear to me that changing the world is so damn frustrating! As Tracy Kidder explained in an interview, where most NGOs give up and ultimately blame the very people they've come to help, Paul Farmer and PIH never did that. They stayed. They asked themselves questions about what they were doing wrong. They developed relationships with the people (the public/cultures) they were treating to understand what social and cultural barriers they needed to integrate into their approach. They never wavered from their mission.

The back cover of this book says it's Paul Farmer's life calling to cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most.

It's sorta how I articulated my own calling, "to raise (insert amount here: $101K) for the people who need it most."

I hate fundraising and I am actually pretty bad at it. But, I've been put in a very privileged situation, surrounded by positive, big-thinking and successful people. I have to think there is a reason for that. I believe that building awareness within my communities (and fundraising where I can) is what I am meant to do right now.

I know all too well that I am not the smartest, most articulate, creative, caring, thoughtful or charismatic kid on the block. But I've got a big heart, and that's my gift.

Silly to have it go to waste.

Anyway, thanks for the inspiration Paul Farmer!

You can grab for all that life offers with greed and selfishness, or you can appreciate what you receive and share a portion of it with others. Receiving for the sake of sharing creates a circuitry, a constant flow of good fortune in your life.

Find little ways to establish this circuitry in everything you do today.

Raising Malawi -- 2007 Update



Here's an update of all the great progress we're making in Malawi. It's 9:30 long. I hope you'll watch. I have a cameo appearance around six and a half minutes in.

Thank you everyone who made this goal possible! Let's not stop here!

I'm in LA this week.

I'm staying at the W in Westwood. It's very overcast, so I'm hanging out in my room. They always upgrade me when I visit. It's nice. I have a separate little living room to the bedroom.

I've already wrecked the place with my "piles" of stuff that drive David crazy at home. The room service guy didn't know where to put the tray last night. He almost fell over on some books on his way to the table across the room. Am I messy? I don't think of myself as messy. But, I dunno.

I may go out later to see if I can get a chocolate chip cookie somewhere. I'm craving one all the sudden. And a bottle of wine. And David. We're starting to figure out this dating thing and how to be loving and supportive of each other. It's so nice. I honestly miss him.

Too bad I'm moving in a couple weeks. I'm transferring to LA with the agency. They're putting me in corporate housing starting June 11th. It'll give me some time to figure out where to live. Buy a car. All that good stuff. I really love the people in the new office. I hope LA is full of more like them. They're smart, cool, creative. Real.

I'm here all week. I have to do a quick trip to Chicago tomorrow through Wed for groups, but then back to LA Thurs/Friday. I head home to NY next weekend. And then off to Ted's wedding in St. Croix the weekend after that. That should be fun. With all this going on, I need to figure out when to say goodbye to my friends.

I went to CVS last night to stock up on some of the stuff I forgot to pack -- makeup and junk. I found myself looking for a belated Mother's Day card. I couldn't find one. I guess there's not a big market for that sort of thing. I've got to get better about not letting my personal life fall apart when I get busy at work. Today is Luke's first communion! I would've loved to be there, but it's just so much travel. I'll send him cash or a gift instead.

I bought the movie, "The Break-up" at CVS to watch in my room. I really liked it! It's true Chicago and actually made me a little homesick. I didn't think I missed Chicago. But the movie reminded me of so many of my favorite things -- the Cubs vs. Sox bit in the beginning, concerts at the Riv, the Lake, the Chicago River, Vince Vaughn in those ridiculous Polish Pride T-shirts!! Go Polacks! I grew up a Sox fan btw, so while I've attended my share of games at Wrigley, I've never rooted for the Cubs a day in my life. It's sacrilege.

I haven't done much on my Raising Malawi initiative lately. My last fundraiser idea fell through because I couldn't attend my "One Woman Show" graduation in New York due to this new business pitch I'm on. Maybe I'll do a reprise. I was thinking about a fundraiser going-away party. But that limits me to my NY connections. I have a long way to go to meet my money goal this year.

I need a big idea!

Maybe I'll rent out my NY apartment for charity one week at a time? Stay a week, donate $500 to charity. You get the write-off, plus cool digs in the world's most amazing city. I want to renovate it first. But that could be a good idea provided I can still afford to pay the mortgage.

I've gotta focus my priorities. How much will I do for vulnerable children? In my head, I think everything and anything. But in my actions, I've been stopped.

Hunger and malnutrition kill nearly 6 million children in the world each year. If you have ever seen a starving child, you can't "un-see" it. But for some reason, we all try. Somehow it's not our problem. Truthfully, I'm not a big fan of taking on problems. I am, however, really inspired by participating in programs that deliver smart solutions.

Feed the Children has a cool program going on right now. They recently received a donation of 11-million pounds of rice from the government of Taiwan . Eleven million pounds! This is very exciting. So, they've got the food, but they need money to transport it from Taiwan to Kenya. $20 = 1,000 meals to starving, malnourished kids. If this inspires you, you can make a donation to Feed the Children.

A friend also turned me on to Heifer International. It's a great program to end hunger in 50 countries while providing a means for sustainable living. Buy a family a cow, the cow gives milk to a village. Buy a sheep, the sheep provides clothing for a community. Buy a chicken, you have eggs and food. You get the point.

And, of course, if you've found yourself on my blog for whatever reason, please please please send me a note to let me know that I'm not totally alone out here. You can click on this link to donate to Raising Malawi. And if you do, please RSVP on this blog or send me a private email (jsilka@yahoo.com) with how much you've donated so I can count it against my goal.

If you donated last year, please don't feel like you have to stop there ;) We're not finished yet! Be a channel for the Light. If you give, you will NOT be left without. You'll just have a bigger vessel for giving. It's like pumping weights. The more you pump the bigger your body gets. The more you give, the more capacity you have for giving. Spiritually, what I believe happens is that you expand your capacity to receive. The abundant Universe fills that void unconditionally. You have more so you can give more. You're just the vessel. Let yourself be used. If there is money in your pocket right now, it may be earmarked by some higher good as a gift.

Don't block that energy. Give it already! It'll only come back to you tenfold.

Look, so I started this "charity/tithing adventure" a year ago as a test. And I trusted the process. I gave more than I've ever given before, and my life is bigger today than ever before and only getting bigger. I'm meeting so many great people and I'm falling in love with my life. My life has purpose. I'm happy.

Buddy up with me! Write me a note. Join me on this amazing adventure of expanding yourself and being a contribution in the world.

What else is the point?

Happy birthday George Lucas!

And happy belated birthday to my neice Lauren, Age 2 on May 2nd.

Avocado Hate Crimes

My life is coming at me a thousand miles an hour. I'm transferring to our LA office and still finishing up/transitioning off business in NYC. I'm also helping on a new biz pitch re: Hass avocados.

I sent out a company-wide survey on Friday to help us with the pitch. It said, "Avocado eaters, we need your help! Please click on this link and answer a few questions about the mighty avocado. We need your insights ASAP!" sort of thing. Well....the link was attached to the wrong survey. It was attached to a survey I wrote re: NY Hate Crimes. Thankfully, the link wasn't live and we got the problem corrected pretty quickly, but I can't help but think of the consequences had that link been live.

Consider the hate crimes brief. Here's the sentiment, courtesy the brilliant Mr. Spike Lee and brilliantly delivered by Ed Norton:



So, David and I were goofing around just now about that campaign we would have to make for the Avocado commission had this survey actually been live. I present to you, the :30 spot on the Avocado. ;)