Me to We - Part 1

I don't know if you've scrolled all the way down my blog, but I'm keeping a running list of the books I'm reading/have read this year. Sometimes I comment on the books I read, and Me to We (www.metowe.com) is definitely blog worthy. As a very quick and dirty background, the Me to We movement was started out of Free the Children (www.freethechildren.com) - a global organization started by a Canadian 12-year old boy (around 1995). Craig, along with his older brother Marc, have traveled the world, meeting dignitaries and heads of state including people like Mother Teresa. They have also met some of the world's poorest, unknown people. I believe that they provide solid advice based on their own experiences to prove that one person can truly make a difference, no matter their age. Here's a sample:

"What initially surprised us most in our travels to many poor countries of the developing world was not the misery or the extensive poverty but the happiness and the hope that survived despite it. We saw not only scenes of hunger and suffering but also moments of community, compassion, trust, and laughter. We saw people coming together to protect one another, sharing what little they had, celebrating with a smile, music, or dance the small pleasures of the world.”

I totally agree with this observation, especially when I met Ngoie in South Africa (search my blog for more posts on her and her story). She talked about "paying it forward" and I couldn't figure out what she had to pay forward. In the west, it's all about things and the stuff we have. When you start to travel, you see community and relationships. In the west we have watches, but in so many other cultures, they have time - time to really sit and talk and listen and not hurry to the next thing in one's busy schedule. Life is not just about Me - there is something greater when We contribute to the common good of each other.

“Travel has a way of stretching the mind.
The stretch comes not from travel’s immediate rewards,
the inevitable myriad new sights, smells and sounds,
but with experiencing firsthand how others do differently
what we believed to be the right and only way.”
~Ralph Crawshaw