The Night I Met Miss Universe (Riyo Mori, Japan, 2007) and…

November 21st, 2008 | Comment

…I also met Kurara Chibana (1st Runner-Up in 2006) and Hiroko Mima (Miss Universe Japan in 2008).

I walked into the Ginza Gucci Store, went upstairs to the cafe, and there they were standing in the middle of the room looking regal. Someone said, Why don’t you take their picture. So I did.

Riyo Mori, Kurara Chibana, and Hiroko Mima (Oct 25, 2008)

Then I walked around taking photos of everyone, sometimes pausing to grab some roast beef on a cracker or whatever else was coming around.

I was the photographer, and the event was a fundraiser for Room to Read. Room to Read raises money and uses it to build schools and libraries for children in impoverished communities worldwide. Previously, I wrote about my site visit to see Room to Read’s work in Cambodia here.

Later in the evening Erin Ganju, co-founder of Room to Read and future CEO, gave a presentation.

Room to Read got started because John Wood and Erin Ganju (and others) went traveling to see the world. Like countless others they were touched by what they saw. UNLIKE innumerable others, they did something in response. Now Room to Read is having a significant impact to help needy children get an education and access to books — things that really make a difference in their lives.

I hope you check them out, even if you just came here to see Miss Universe photos.

Okay, back to Miss Universe. They had an auction to raise money for Room to Read (Gucci is a big supporter apparently). First, they auctioned several Gucci bags. When I need a “bag” I usually grab either a plastic one with my local supermarket’s brand on the front, or I go “high class” and find a nice paper bag with one of them fancy department store logos on it. Anyway, I was just the photographer and not expected to fit in.

This is a men’s bag. I think they had a Seinfeld episode about mens’ bags. I love Seinfeld.

Later they auctioned off a “Miss Universe makeover.” All three of the Miss Universe women were offering an intensive, full day personal lesson in how to become like Miss Universe. The bidding went up into thousands of dollars (hundreds of thousands of yen). (I think the man is the manager of the Gucci Store, but he could be the CEO for all I know. But I am CERTAIN that he’s a Harvard man.)

Afterwards they all gathered around the lucky winner, a young man and his wife (or girlfriend?). Riyo Mori turned and gave me a personal glance. Well, it looks like she did. You can almost see the lucky girl (in the purple dress and not really in need of a makeover) standing behind her.

Okay, that’s my story about the night I met Miss Universe.

Oh, I talked to her — to all of them — by the way, but that part was a disaster. I thought I should say something, but I didn’t know what. I’m really not good at meeting famous people. Once I’ve got the “famous” part in my head, I have a hard remembering we’re all just folks. So I said some typical, stupid thing, when I might have said something else, or just wisely kept my mouth shut.

Later I wished I’d had the opportunity to invite each of them on one of our volunteer trips to Cambodia with Global Adventure. In case any of you read this, Riyo, Kurara, or Hiroko, you are invited! Peace.

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Preschool kids in Japan having fun on mountain bikes

November 19th, 2008 | Comment

Yesterday the preschool kids had their annual bicycle race. The race is a one hour marathon. The one who goes the farthest wins. Reia won two years ago by going 14 laps. Last year a boy pedalled for 17 laps. This year Mari and Maika are the oldest, so they both hoped to win. It turned out to be Mari’s day. She went out hard and led the whole the way (15 laps).

Most of the kids in the preschool this year are very young. The two boys who are closest in age to Mari and Maika are quite small. Everyone worked hard. A few shed tears, beginning with the boy who fell off the road into the rice paddy on his first lap.

Click on the first photo and you can view the whole gallery with captions. I chose 15 photos that give an impression of the day!

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Suicide in Japan, and a Ray of Hope

November 17th, 2008 | 2 Comments

A documentary is playing on TV. A Japanese man goes to a lonely cliff in Fukui that’s famous for people who come to jump off into the sea. He waits. People come and, then a man arrives alone carrying a bottle of rice wine. The man standing vigil moves in. The man with the bottle of wine is 50 years old, unemployed, and living in the back of his car. He breaks down tears as the other man’s arm settles on his shoulder in compassion. “I’ve stopped 150 men like you, and they’re all doing well,” he says. “You’re going to be allright.” The two of them leave together. The next day they go to an apartment building, and the man pays the first month’s rent for the other. In the comng days, the man who was  suicidal gets a part time job. After some time goes by, another volunteer takes a car ride with the man. They go to his family home, and the man confronts his father. He cries and thanks the volunteer. Weeks later he is doing well. 151 and counting.

Every day 90 people kill themselves in Japan.

Today, Hitomi came back from the station saying the Chuo Line was shut down. I went an hour later to catch a train to Hachioji. I glanced up at the turnstyles as I entered and saw a train was about to depart. Whatever the problem was, the Chuo Line was running again. I walked down the platform and noticed a group of train station employees and police talking seriously, and then I saw a man taking photos of the tracks. I saw another policeman holding a pair of jeans. I moved to a spot where I could follow the line of the camera and saw a section of railroad track was wet — with water after being freshly washed. Someone is dead, possibly the owner of the blue  jeans. I boarded my train and sat in silence.

Every day 90 people kill themselves in Japan. But in Fukui, by the cliff, there’s someone watching who cares.

(There’s a pretty discussion about love, spirituality, and suffering at Jim’s blog here: Trouble in Paradise. )

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Children Living with HIV/AIDS in Cambodia

November 12th, 2008 | 3 Comments

I took (and posted) this shot 8 months ago, but here’s a reprise.  BTW, this isn’t really a “political” blog, except to the extent that politics connect with life…

I’ve been too busy to write for the past few days. I’m working on a seminar that I’ll present for the first time tomorrow. It’s called: Living with HIV/AIDS. The main focus will be the stories of AIDS orphans in Cambodia (like the boy in the photo above). I know that the scope of the AIDS problem in Africa is much larger in comparison. But when you talk about individual stories of people you know, each one is infinitely precious.

I hope people who participate in the seminar (university students and others) will walk away determined to learn more and do something. Take a step. I’ll end with a quote from Mother Theresa: “We can do no great things, just small things with great love.”

Besides being busy, I’ve been consuming loads of information. Most of it is pretty heavy. In the 1980’s the horrible devastation of AIDS was accurately predicted, but the governments and international bodies only gave a token response. It hurts when this really soaks in, because I know all these children who lost their parents and friends to AIDS.

Worse, I’ve been reading about the medications that keep AIDS infected children alive (for those lucky enough to get it). I’ve been assuming the kids in Cambodia would live indefinately as long as they took their medications faithfully. I don’t want to think otherwise, but my education of the past few days is breaking the delusion. Without continuing progress in AIDS treatment and access (in the next couple of years) to new classes of drugs at very cheap prices, they may not make it.

330,000 children around the world died of AIDS last year, and 420,000 new children were infected.

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Have things gotten brighter?

November 7th, 2008 | Comment

My good friend, Wayne, worked with a Cambodian partner to start a hospice outside Phnom Penh in 2001. At the time, thousands of people were dying of AIDS in the most miserable ways imaginable. They were rejected by their families, out of fear, and forced to sleep outside. Children lived out their final days in boxes underneath their family homes. Crematoriums even refused to handle the remains.

In 2005, the price of life saving drugs finally dropped and ordinary Cambodians of all ages stopped dying. In 206, the hospice became an orphanage to care for the children who had been left behind (and some single mothers struggling to live with HIV and care for their children).

Wayne cared for about 400 dying people between 2001 and 2006. Before that he had already seen more suffering and death than you (probably) or I can imagine from Vietnam to Gallup, New Mexico to rural Honduras. When I met him in Cambodia just over a year ago, he only dressed in black clothing. I quickly noticed, because the heat was almost unbearable for me. He explained that for personal reasons, at some point he had taken a vow only to wear black. I imagined it was an expression of mourning or pain. Ever since I’ve known him he has been a somber/joyful bearded ex-hippie registered nurse tenderly caring for children with HIV/AIDS. You know the type.

Now at least two things have changed, as you can see.

I took the first photo in September. The photo on the right is from a couple of days ago. He sent it by email with the following explanation:

The election of Barack Hussein Obama
As President of the United States of America
Has given me a renewed hope in Humanity
And a belief that Change is not only possible…
It is Inevitable.

Folks who know Wayne will read this with amazement and a chuckle. I remember in February, 2006, telling Wayne that the next president of the USA would be Obama. He wasn’t buying it. He couldn’t believe that America would elect an African-American in this generation. We’re both very glad that he was wrong.

So kudos to Wayne. You’re a great friend, and I’m glad to see you you’re renewed hope on display.

I don’t think Wayne modelled his vow after the original “Man in Black,” but I’ll post these words in tribute. Note the line in bold at the end!

Man In Black

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there’s a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin’ in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he’s a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you’d think He’s talking straight to you and me.

Well, we’re doin’ mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin’ cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we’re reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought ‘a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin’ for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen’ that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen’ that we all were on their side.

Well, there’s things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin’ everywhere you go,
But ’til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You’ll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I’d love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything’s OK,
But I’ll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
‘Till things are brighter, I’m the Man In Black.

Johnny Cash

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