Over the past months I’ve had the absolute joy of spending some quality time with the Kurian people who have warmly welcomed me, opened up their homes to me, cooked for me (or begged me to let them), and kindly answered my million strange questions about magi na choo (water and sanitation). My biggest observation …
2 November 2008 Well, I hear that the sky is pretty much falling back home. With the investment banking industry going the way of the dodo, the Dow Jones fluctuating wildly, consumer confidence tanking, and rising food and energy prices, the current administration and the Fed seem to be left scratching their heads in utter …
Last weekend the Nuru Grassroots Movement Team traveled to West Virginia Wesleyan College to make our debut in the NGO conference world. The “Engaging Our World” conference was sponsored by Oxfam America and the Bonner Foundation, and was focused on helping students gain a greater understanding of global issues and how to effectively work towards …
26 October 2008 A few people have asked me to describe a typical day in our life here. After thinking about it, I thought it would make for a good story, and if nothing else, bring a smile and a laugh to your heart wherever you are in your busy routine today. I had a …
22 October 2008 So we had a big victory today that I would like to share with all of you to give you a little “pick me up” after all the gloom and doom of lightning strikes and malaria cases. I need to give you a little backstory, though, first. One of the hardest things …
A few thousand years ago the Kingdom of Israel was at war against a vicious, oppressive people called the Philistines. The two armies were camped across a valley from each other in preparation for battle, and as often happened in those days, a champion from the Philistine side challenged any man from the Israeli side …
12 October 2008 Over the next few weeks, I’ll be writing about Nuru International’s work here on the ground in our pilot project in Kuria, Kenya. Already, we have seen some incredible potential for the program to really have a significant impact in the community. But I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share with …
9 October 2008 One of my favorite stories in the Bible is about a poor shepherd boy slaying a trained warrior to save a kingdom. The story goes something like this…The kingdom of Israel was in combat against a tribe of people called the Philistines. The two sides were camped across from each other in …
Birthdays are a funny thing. Their value seems to deteriorate over time. As a kid, I remember thinking that my birthday was basically the most important day in history – minus Christmas of course. I would toss and turn all night long the night before my birthday thinking about how much fun the following day …
Thursday August 9, 2007One of the more uncomfortable “adventures” I had while in the Marine Corps was the prisoner of war (POW) training we had to go through at Force Recon. The Navy has this diabolical little school called SERE to accomplish this training. There, you learn (among other things) how to survive and resist …
Tuesday July 31, 2007I just wanted to write a quick note to say that if you are sending anything to me in the mail, it’s probably a good idea to get any final letters in by the end of this week. The mail has been taking about three weeks to get here, and after this …
Tuesday July 24, 2007Sometimes the routine of work here can lull one into a false sense of confidence and complacency. Now that the Kakamega project is well under way, most of the major challenges of the startup have been met and solved. Daniel and I have now begun the actual execution phase of the operation …
In September 2000, the United Nations adopted a set of eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) with the proposed intent to end extreme poverty by the year 2015. Since that time, much work has been done in international development to create sustainable solutions to poverty. Yet, today, according to the latest available data from the World …
Tuesday July 10, 2007 I had a pretty good laugh at myself yesterday. We were experiencing a particularly fierce torrential downpour, and I found myself trudging along in the middle of it face down heading toward my next visit – miserable. I began to hear muffled laughter all around me. I looked up in surprise …
Tuesday July 3, 2007 Every time I go out to visit the farmers, I get a little nostalgic. The green rolling hills and simple life bring back rich memories of my life as a boy in West Virginia. The challenges and poverty here are much move severe, but the farmers I meet bear striking resemblances …