“The more one forgets oneself – giving oneself to a cause or another person – the more human he or she is. Happiness is the side effect of living out the self-transcendence of existence. Once one has served a cause or is involved in loving another human being, happiness occurs by itself.” Victor Frankl
I strongly believe that it is critical to give back to the community and pursue those issues that are important. Advocacy in one form or another is in order here I believe. I have jokingly said to friends that I believe that I am a closet activist and at 70 am about to come out. If my professional life will allow me to financially pursue my community activism, this would be perfect.
One of my main areas of focus is children’s rights and services. As I have invested my time in volunteer work, most often I am working in this area. Martine De Lie recently forwarded a PowerPoint movie focused on the plight of children internationally. The presentation came in four different languages and I have linked them here if you are in any doubt that we need to focus our efforts in this important area. The movie is called Stolen Childhood
In April of 2004, I was blessed with the opportunity to volunteer in South India. Some of the details as well as a link to my photo album of 221 pictures of the trip can be found on my volunteer page.
This is me with three children in a remote village in South India on a recent volunteer trip to Tamilnadu
I am continuing to seek ways to volunteer in the Telangana in India where my little girl was born and am volunteering in other areas of interest when my time allows. Expanding my work in the nonprofit world is a something I would like to do over the next 15 years.