This is a fun, zippy video of our kids’ kayaking event last weekend. If you click through and watch it in HD on the YouTube site, the quality is amazing (way to go YouTube!). Reia is #11. Her kayak is blue on top and bright yellow on bottom. She flips over a couple of times. Mari and Maika are the youngest ones, so they are riding in plastic kayaks (one yellow and the other green). The kids are really good. They start learning to roll their kayaks in the 4th grade, and one of the boys is on the Japanese Junior team with Olympic dreams. It’s been so fun letting our kids have experiences like this.
Video and multimedia
A story of hope in Cambodia at Andong Village
Take a few minutes and watch this video. I think you’ll agree it’s worth seeing and learning the story.
I recommend watching THEN reading the story. If you prefer just to read it, see the previous post (with more details and better looking versions of the best photos). If you’d like to help out, there are more details at the bottom of that page.
UPDATE: You can read Abraham’s story in his own words here.
Vision, empathy, and a cell phone
From TED: “This beautiful video titled “Mankind is No Island” recently won first prize at Tropfest NY. Directed by Jason van Genderen, it was shot entirely on a cell phone with a budget of $57.” Creativity and artistic vision trump big budgets and fancy gear (again). (Cross-posted at GlobalCompassion.com)
What are your first impressions after seeing this? How do you want to respond?
Video – Kids and Kayaks in Nagano, Japan
They range in age from first grade to Junior High (with a couple of adults mixed in). The event was a mostly fun slalom kayaking competition. For those who are unfamiliar with the sport, you have to navigate a series of gates suspended above the river. Some gates must be entered facing downstream and others facing upstream. Your score depends on the time it takes to finish the course plus penalties for each time you touch (2 seconds) or miss (50 seconds) a gate. In this case, most of the kids only had to touch each gate with a paddle (rather than passing through) to avoid deductions. The outdoors school tries to play down competition, but it’s hard for the coach to be a purist when his daughter is an international level competitor who seems to have just barely missed making the Japanese team for Beijing. One of the Junior High boys aspires to be an Olympian, too.
My daughter, Reia, is in the second grade now. She really loves kayaking. She says she’s not afraid of being in the river. That makes us a little nervous, but I’m excited for her, too. I would have loved this sport when I was young but never had an opportunity to give it a try. If you watch the video you may see her. Her kayak is blue on top with a yellow bottom. Actually, there is another boy with the same colors, so picking her out may be a challenge.
The music is by my friend, Rennie Foster, who has been called a significant force and a pioneer DJ in the techno music scene. He’s recently been named one of the top 50 DJ’s in Japan and he’s hoping for a Top 5 ranking (by a music magazine here in Japan that I don’t read…so no link due to my ignorance, sorry).