I am a tiny voice in the wilderness of life crying out to be heard among a cacophony of 10,000 voices. I am a tiny voice with a message of hope and light in a sea of despair and hopelessness.
The message is simple: “Think and do what you can to have a positive influence on others.” Since that early day when I was knee high to a grasshopper I thought about how I could be positive no matter what and have a good influence on others.
Who am I?
I am a person who mirrors and reflects the wonderful people I have met through the years around the globe. What you see in me is a sum total of influences these people have imbued in me.
I smile because those people smiled, I laugh because those people laughed. I am friendly because those people were friendly. The first of these people were my mother and my father.
Who am I?
Years ago when I was slightly taller than a grasshopper I applied to go to Africa in a project called Operation Crossroads Africa. I had to raise $3000 for the opportunity to work in a village on a project to build a community center. I could only raise $1000 of that $3000. I didn’t think I would go to the orientation. I did indeed go to the orientation at Rutgers University. I thought I would be taken from the bus before going to the airport. I took the bus to the JFK airport. As we walked on the tarmac to board the plane I thought I would be taken away just as the others boarded the plane. As we walked up the steps to the plane my heart skipped a beat. I was almost there. As I walked onto the plane I still thought they would come on the plane and take me off and say you only paid $1000. Low and behold that did not happen. I breathed a sigh of relief. I found out later that donors had paid the money.
Who am I?
The plane took off into the night skies. We awoke to an extraordinary sunrise over the Atlantic. I had never flown so long or so far. We began our decent and landed in Senegal. I ran off the plane and kissed the ground. We had returned to our African home after over 400 years and 8 generations in America.
Over the next 3 months I experienced exhilaration after exhilaration from the rich engrossing transit over African soil. In Bali, Cameroon I could put my philosophy of having a positive influence on others to its greatest test. I also learned that I was transformed in the process by the positive influence others had on me. We teamed up with villagers and dug a foundation and carried heavy stones down a steep hill, poured cement and began laying the stones for the new community center. The hard labor and the friendships made began to shape who I was in a profound way.
Who am I?
We heard the night cry of leopards, we saw deadly snakes, we got drenched in downpours of tropical rains, we climbed the local mountains through the tall grasses of the grasslands, we saw hippos lounging in the rivers, and we saw the African rain forest.
We traveled on dirt tracks through the untamed vibrantly green countryside. We heard the distant drums through the night echoing traditional celebrations.
We danced and sang to the incessant rhythms of the music. We read books in an old house we called home. We ate the hot peppery dishes of rice, fish and multicolored vegetables.
We nearly finished the community center in Bali and left for a 1000 mile overland trip to Lagos, Nigeria. From there we flew to New York. This trip began a life of overseas travel and work while attempting to have a positive influence on others. I decided on a career in public health which I thought was most needed in the developing world.
Who am I?
I studied dental medicine and public health epidemiology and carried those skills to work in USA, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, and Suriname, South America.
Who am I?
If humans stand together in unity and harmony, as Abraham Lincoln said, “we shall not perish from this earth.” People from all cultures have similar aspirations, family well being, getting an education, good interpersonal relations, concerns for the future of the world are concerns for all cultures. They ring out like the village bell defining our common humanity.
Human strife is unnecessary. This is a historical relic. When we all work together we can solve all problems of food, clothing, shelter and quality of life. Human unity creates a better world. The tiny voice is a little bigger now than a grasshopper promoting the message, “Human Unity.” That’s me, a hopeful optimistic citizen of the world.
That’s who I am.