Life is a journey

…not a destination…

Hello & Welcome to Episode 20th of the Lighthouse, where I can tell you more about my week, I hope to instill in you some more happiness, fresh mind, joyful spirits, fueled with songs & photos!

This week a Team from the United States of America came to visit the operations of our organization: the challenges of accessing rural far away places, the climate change (very dry & droughts), lack of potable water, scarce food, little employment opportunities…we met & spoke with many refugees, from Somalia, Yemen, Ethiopia, Eritrea… It was heartbreaking to see that they have so little, and still, they manage to survive. On the hopeful side, we saw that our organization promotes resilience & empowerment, advocating for technical agricultural trainings & creation of job opportunities that can allow people to earn a living, and choose the trajectory of their lives. In life, we never give up & we do not lose hope.

This travel made sure to assess the situation & strategically plan for sustainable future solutions…all mixed with political will, individual will, motivation & joint collaboration!

Here the X (former Twitter Social Media) of the mission, Thank you so much for coming!

Effective assistance starts with thorough assessment and strategic planning.

A team of @USAIDSavesLives travelled across #Djibouti 🇩🇯 to interact with refugees, migrants, and vulnerable rural Djiboutians.

I am thrilled the fruitful discussions will feed into our joint response pic.twitter.com/MS15f21rg6

— Mary M Njoroge (@mnjoroge2011) December 8, 2023

Playlist of the week

I kissed a girl – Katy Perry

Cruel Summer – Taylor Swift

Si viene si va – Ligabue

Mi vendo – Renato Zero

Changes – Charles Bradley

Come & get your Love – Redbone

Patience – Take that

Round-up photos of traveling

rural and urban communities, focus groups, across the country of Djibouti, Obock, Tadjourah, Ali Sabieh, Ali Addeh refugee camps – food assistance & cash-based transfers for families to choose their foods (meat, vegetables, eggs, oil, wheat…) December 2023

I am grateful that I have seen these places, met many people and could experience what it means to have so little, demands are high and basic needs need to be met.

I do believe in development and international cooperation, therefore I hope that through effective communications people will have better life opportunities.

What to read, what to watch

Taylor Swift TIME Person of the year 2023, read her life journey & storytelling expertise, on this link

Movie tip Leave the World Behind: suspense & thriller in this new Netflix movie starring Ethan Hawke & Julia Roberts. The movie is set in a home with a swimming pool, an ideal far away place, to relax and enjoy the beauty of trees & green areas, away from the hustle & bustle of the busy work of New York city life. The House, the Curve, the Noise and the Last One: the four chapters of the movie outline an intense & captivating plot that will keep you sit & totally immersed in the story…

TV show fun tip : F is for Family : a family of five, working as a Team into the Bumpy roads of LIFE (house chores, employment, children…) Set in the 70ies, with songs & cultural cameos, it is a great entertaining show for adults that enjoy the music & the references of this period in the United States of America!

Wishing to all a fun weekend, leading up to some restful holidays!

Ciao!

Gaia

My dream is to fly, shall we?

I used to have this dream on a nightly-basis when I was a child. I think it went on for some years. Or at least, it was for quite some time, since I still remember it quite vivid in my mind and memories. I was flying high in the sky, by swimming. So imagine a girl swimming in the air, nice feeling of breathing both water & air at the same time 🙂

So I think every one of us tries to consider and re-consider spaces, and looks for “free ones” where we can FEEL free to think what we want, do what we want, imagine what we want. This “free-space” can be physical or can be mental, or can be combined into one.

Imagine when many people are restricted into the same space, or think of Jean-Paul Sartre’s  existentialist French Play No exit (Huis Clos, 1944), where three dead characters are punished by being locked into a room together for eternity. And when the well-known phrase is remembered, “L’Enfer, c’est les autres”, “Hell is other people”. In this case, I am challenging Sartre and I would love- if he was still alive- to ask him some questions about our own consciousness. I think we have a super subjective perception of time, space, people, places, therefore we think that our eyes are always right, because we see what we see. Without taking into consideration the other billions of “talking and thinking heads” around us. I am not saying to take and lead life in a relative way, by agreeing to everything that comes up before our eyes, and by believing in everything we see.

We must adopt “il sale nella zucca” -Italian idiomatic expression- the salt in our pumpkin- with pumpkin as our head- meaning “using our common sense” -the education we received and the critical thinking we have developed to understand dynamics and evaluate situations and opportunities before taking a firm and irremovable decision.

In order to do this, and I think it is quite hard and tiring, Good and Clear Communication ( I learned it when I was in the US by being in contact with fellow Americans, really straight forward and ethical people in personal and professional relations) Talking re-talking over stuff is quite useful, leading to positive ripple effects. Emotionally, well, it kills you. But afterwards, with the human ability to restore itself and our power to re-energize bodies and souls, as a circle that feeds itself, we can all manage to survive. Stronger and more proactive. And with an historical memory of what happened and to know if we should or should not keep going with the same attitude, change something, analyze, track and improve.

The final point I always wish to make in my blog posts ( and I am sorry I am being repetitive sometimes) is the development of us as better human beings, being able to see, to listen, to understand, not to judge, having a clear mind everytime we start listening to people, to help out if needed and asked, without invading spaces, with the aim of reaching happy, positive and productive relationships ( either love ones and professional ones).

The key is always one: we are individuals pursuing Happiness ( and here again I refer to the US Declaration of Independence with the inalienable rights for people to pursue life, liberty and happiness) in a global world where information is easy to get but not so easy to filter, where people talk talk talk and sometimes they do not say anything, where superficiality can cover fear and willingness to find a “free space” to talk without any judgement on who you are, what you do and why you do it.

As long as we respect human rights, “free spaces” ( both ours and of other people) we will grow up more aware of the world, understanding that no one is right and no one is wrong. Our strength as human being is the level of adaptability and openness we have towards other social-cultural environments we are plunged into, “evaluating the soil” to be ready to unite people and solve misunderstandings and problems. As one of my mentors in Boston, Mr. Scott, he always used to say “No problems only Solutions”.

We are here on Earth, not to judge other people’ behaviors, but to listen, understand, learn and forge our critical thinking, our bodies and our ability to communicate to others by instilling hope, dialogue, peace and a lot of affection. 

With, as the front banner of this blog post wants to convey: a piece of happiness, despite our misunderstandings, can be created also with some helado– ice cream- and frutas– fruit. You choose colors, geographical place, and most of all the positive people you want to share them with 🙂

or….of you wish…you can choose from carrot cake, cheese cake, yogurt&coconut or apple pie, would you like a taste it together? 🙂

A big hug from Madrid, have a wonderful start of this summery month,

Ciao!

Your flying swimmer

@GaiaParadiso