el viaje es el destino.

Nomadique

jimmychalk — Tue, 24 May 2011 21:46:24 +0000

Until further notice, I’ll be blogging at http://www.wearenomadique.com.

Back to Brazil… and le blog.

jimmychalk — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 16:22:58 +0000

It’s been more than a year since I last posted here, and in that year a lot’s happened. I spent 11 months working as communications specialist in Chennai, India with some of the most dedicated and talented people I’ve ever met. I visited Cairo and the Sinai with my friend and brilliant freelance journalist Laura Beth Kasinof, whose articles on Yemen you’ve probably read over the last few weeks in the New York Times. I spent a week in Bangkok, Thailand working closely with journalists from all over Asia to cover Transparency International’s International Anti-Corruption Conference. And most recently, I had the opportunity to travel to several of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas and document the story of a few people who make their home there.

In the last year, I’ve been fortunate enough to see more of the world than I expected to see in my whole life. I’ve learned a lot and I’ve been forced to unlearn a few things as well. I’ve answered some questions, and even more questions have been raised.

I hope to use this blog as a venue to share this journey with you and engage with these questions as we attempt to wrap our heads around the idea that perhaps “el viaje es el destino.”

The post was written somewhere between New York City, NY and Houston, Texas on the first leg of my trip back to Rio de Janeiro to finish up some work for Favela Firsthand. To learn more about Favela Firsthand, check us out on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/favelafirsthand and follow us on Twitter at @favelafirsthand.

How You Can Help the Moroccan Orphans

jimmychalk — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:38:46 +0000

FOR BREAKING UPDATES PLEASE JOIN THE FACEBOOK GROUP.

FOR INFORMATION ON HOW YOU CAN HELP VISIT THIS RESOURCE.

——————–

It appears that the Moroccan government has begun a wholesale expulsion of foreign aid workers with non-Muslim religious ties.

Morocco’s new Minister of Justice Mohammed Naciri seems to be engaging in dangerous politicking that appeals to Moroccan nationalist pride but in reality is putting the lives of Moroccan citizens in danger. We must condemn this selfish political maneuvering in the strongest terms.

Please do what you can to spread the word about this affront to human rights.

Ways to help:

1. Get informed: Read Elizabeth’s blog. Read the most recent news report (as of 07:06 GMT) from TVNZ (New Zealand).

2. Spread the word: Forward this information to your friends, family, and any media contacts you may have in the states or elsewhere via e-mail, Facebook and Twitter (using the hashtag #MoroccoOrphans). When the world begins to comprehend the gravity of this offense, the Moroccan government will be compelled to do what’s best for their citizens, rather than using the lives of Moroccan children as political pawns.

3. Upload this graphic to your Facebook and Twitter profiles as a sign of solidarity with the Village of Hope and all the other aid workers being expelled from the country they aspire to help:

(Right click and “Save as…” to download this graphic to your computer).

Let’s get them talking.

Village de l’Espérance in Aïn Leuh, Morocco – PRESS RELEASE

jimmychalk — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:45:45 +0000

Almost one year ago today I took the fast boat past Gibraltar as the first of many steps in the journey to Village de l’Espérance Orphanage. There I met a few very special people who’d taken in fifty Moroccan orphans and constructed a beautiful school and homes for them in the Middle Atlas mountains near Aïn Leuh, Morocco.

Most of you who know me know that I’m extremely critical of NGOs whose staff come from Christian backgrounds, but Village of Hope’s staff are on par with the best on the planet. I’m proud to say that I know the staff of Village of Hope and I can say with confidence that they’re doing work that will prepare these children to be reintegrated to Moroccan culture with ease after they’ve left the facility.

Today I received some very bad news. VOH staff has just been informed that they must leave the country immediately. We don’t know much more than that, but should hear within the next 24 hours. What we do know is that even the staff has no idea what will happens to the kids in the facility. This situation is undoubtedly touching on these children’s deep psychological and emotional wounds. It’s hard being abandoned once. I don’t want to think about what it must feel like to be orphaned twice.

Below is a press release detailing what we know so far. I’ll post as soon as I hear more, and I’ll let you know if there’s something you can do. For now, please share this link as well as http://www.voh-ainleuh.org (orphanage website) with your friends and family. If you’re on Twitter, please tweet using the hashtag #MoroccoOrphans.

MOROCCAN AUTHORITIES INVADE CHILDREN’S ORPHANAGE – EXPEL PARENTS FROM COUNTRY

Release Drafted Mar. 8, 2010 by Allen Wolf

Monday, March 8th, Moroccan authorities raided Village of Hope (VOH), a children’s home in the Middle Atlas mountains of Morocco, originally founded by two Americans in 1957 as a home for orphaned children. The authorities arrived during the school day, entered the classrooms and told the adopted children their parents are being told to leave the country and will be leaving the children behind.

In the ensuing chaos, officials told the parents at VOH that they are being expelled from the country because they have been talking to their children about Christianity.

In 2002, the Village of Hope registered with the Moroccan government as an official Christian organization and received permission to talk about Christianity to the children in their care. Under the Moroccan government, it is illegal for anyone to talk about their Christian faith without first being asked. In the case of these parents, they had gotten permission to do so from the government.

As the secret police raided VOH, children cried out hysterically for their parents who were being forced to board a bus to the airport 30 minutes after receiving this news. The authorities are not allowing the parents to take any of the children with them which leaves behind 33 children who were in their care.

The staff at Village of Hope had moved there to dedicate their lives to adopting unwanted and orphaned children. In Morocco, it is only legal for Muslims to adopt children so the parents were acting as “foster parents” but in actuality the children considered them to be their parents.

The staff were told this directive came from the new Minister of Justice for Morocco, Mohammed Naciri.

Contact from Village of Hope: Chris Broadbent, 212 650 731 307 kiwimaroc@gmail.com

International Women’s Day 2010

jimmychalk — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:01:25 +0000

Though you won’t see any Women’s Day cards on the supermarket shelves in the States, International Women’s Day is apparently a pretty big deal elsewhere on the planet.

In Italy and Brazil, men give the women they love (be they mother, lover, or daughter) flowers and/or chocolate.

In India, an organization called Growing Opportunity gives loans to female entrepreneurs. Lots of them. To date, over 60,000 women (mostly from very low caste backgrounds) have been enabled by small loans to start their own businesses, often in partnership with other women in “self-help groups.”

I got some first-hand experience with GO last Friday at the International Women’s Day celebration in Chennai, where over 40,000 GO clients attended the event over two days.

I’m a sucker for international microfinance, but I’d never had the privilege of seeing its fruits ntil this weekend. What I found was not what I expected. Usually very conservative and demure Indian women were having an incredibly good time, joking around and laughing with the opposite gender (read: me) and almost begging us to take pictures.

Consider celebrating International Women’s Day today. Call your mom, give your girlfriend some daisies, or make a loan to someone who could really use it. You might just make her day.

A Wonderful Week in Madras

jimmychalk — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 16:03:34 +0000

Here are few shots from this week. Click on the pictures to view the full-quality image.

Also, tomorrow, March 8, 2010, is International Women’s Day! Take some time to think about just how far women have come in the States, and how far they’ve yet to go in our society and so many others. If you’re interested in knowing more about the issues facing women today across the globe, check out Nicholas Kristof’s Half The Sky.”

More pictures to come in tomorrow’s post on Growing Opportunity‘s International Women’s Day celebration in Chennai. Até amanhã, disfrute as fotos!

Winter is Warm in Aminjikarai

jimmychalk — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:08:28 +0000

I’m in India, and here are some pictures of a day in the life.

The Locksmith

The Salesman

The Kid

The Farmers

Like Father, Like Son

The Wash

The Walk

Ruhaniyat

Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound

jimmychalk — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 06:52:26 +0000

Johnny Cash’s new record “American VI: Ain’t No Grave” has been shaking me up tonight.

JR passed years back, yet this posthumously released collection of tunes seems to taunt the specter of death that hung over Cash between June’s death and his own.

I Corinthians 15:55, the last song Cash ever wrote, quotes the Good Book, “O Death, where is thy sting? O Grave, where is thy victory? Oh life, you are a shining path. Hope springs eternal, just over the rise, when I see my Redeemer beckoning me.” Confidence is measured by confession, however, in songs like “Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound.”

“If you see me passin’ by/And you sit and you wonder why/And you wish that you were ramblin’ too, Nail your shoes your shoes to the kitchen floor/Lace them up and bar your door/Thank your stars for the roof that’s over you.”

At times, I wonder when my wandering ends. Will I ever sit still for long enough to put down roots? Do I really want to?

I’m with you, John. I can’t help but wonder where I’m bound.

India 2010 or The What if Not the Why.

jimmychalk — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:23:11 +0000

In just a few hours I’ll be boarding KLM Flight 642 to Amsterdam, the first leg of a journey that will take me to India for all of 2010, working as a Communications Fellow with International Justice Mission. (Learn about IJM: http://www.ijm.org)

IJM’s goal is beautiful in its simplicity: Seek Justice, Rescue the Oppressed, Defend the Orphan, Plead for the Widow. My role in achieving this goal will be to tell stories. From the tear-streaked cheeks of the underage sex trafficking victim to the calloused hands of the bonded brick kiln laborer, I’ll try to transcribe and shape these raw experiences that our field office staff face into a narrative that will not only compel Westerners to help, but also move over-worked and oft-corrupt governments to work on behalf of their poorest citizens.

Most of this work will happen internally at IJM and sometimes within the local and national Indian media. However, I’ll do my best to let you know as much about our work as I can without violating our clients’ privacy and IJM’s communications policies.

Despite the sounds of car alarms and fire engine sirens (I’m sure gonna miss NYC), I’m falling asleep, so it’s time to call this entry to a close.

This is gonna be fun. Glad I get to bring you along for the ride.

Jimmy

Maybe Europe Once in a While

jimmychalk — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:03:11 +0000

A few highlights from Schwarzwald, Alsace, and Switzerland.