Dominican Republic - June 2006

Finally! Vacation!! And it couldn't have come at a better time, or place, for three weary career girls. The DR was great. The hotel was great. The beach, the water, the cabana boys . . . Just kidding, there were no cabana boys. But we had a fabulous time nonetheless. I was joined by 2 of my gals - Sarah and Christina - for 4 very full days of sunbathing, sea kayaking, snorkeling, laying by the pool, horseback riding, sunbathing, eating, shopping, swimming in caves and sunbathing. I won't lie to you: you're right to be envious. And if you are waiting for me to write something spiritually, culturally or socially insightful - it's not coming. Pure hedonism. No apologies.

Sleeping on the Streets of Philly . . . On Purpose

On April 29th, me and my friends joined thousands (upon thousands) of other people in 150 cities around the world to raise awareness about a growing crisis in Northern Uganda. As some of you may know - but most probably don't - there has been a civil war raging in that country for the past 19 years. As a result of the conflict, children living in rural villages are vulnerable to night raids during which they are kidnapped and forced to fight in rebel armies. To avoid this fate, each night thousands of children walk miles into larger, more secure towns to sleep in bus terminals, hospitals, wherever they can find. Then get up the next morning to walk back to their villages - some to go to school, others to help their families eke out an existence.

In order to draw attention to this invisible war and its children, an organization (called Invisible Children) organized the Global Night Commute in people commuted into their city centers and slept in public areas - outside, unprotected - just like the night commuters in Northern Uganda. We spent the evening writing letters to our President and Senators and hanging out with really interesting strangers who know that if it were American (or British or French) children, it would be in the news everyday until the world did something to stop it. They would not be Invisible Children.

If you are interested in learning more about the night commuters of Northern Uganda or what you can do to help, visit the Invisible Children web site. And look for the Invisible Children feature-length documentary due out next January (but I have a rough cut DVD you can borrow if you can't wait that long!).

Easter in Paris - and Kiev?

I had a trip to Ukraine in April, so I decided to make a stop in France on the way to pay a visit to my forever friend, Kim Deakyne, and her husband, Chad, over the long Easter weekend. It was great to see how Kim and Chad have become quite the Parisians. I miss my friends but am glad they live in such a great place to visit! Being in Paris got me feeling all inspired, so here are a couple of my favorite "artsy" shots from the weekend.

Above: Parisians don't mess around when they picnic - full table setting! Right: Kim being contemplative in the Paris subway.

From Paris, I flew to Kiev, Ukraine. In the Eastern Orthodox traditions, Easter falls on the weekend following that in Western European/American Christian traditions. So I celebrated Easter weekend a second time in Kiev.

My purpose for going to Ukraine was to help facilitate a conference for organizations running HIV prevention programs in that country. Ukraine has one of the fastest growing HIV infection rates in the world. Though HIV is most present among Ukraine's intravenous drug users, many experts think that the disease is on the verge of breaking into the general population. At this conference, I met with Ukrainians who are working with drug addicts and young people in their own communities to change their risky behavior to mitigate the spread of the virus before it reaches epidemic levels. As usual, I was profoundly impressed by their dedication and sacrifice.