I work for the Fellows,

When people ask me about my job I say I work for the most amazing people in the world. Not my bosses or my colleagues, although they are pretty rad, but I work the Fellows, the people who I get to meet, read about, write about and know everyday how they are actually "changing the world."

Today I came across the profile of one of our Fellows who I know now lived just ten minutes away from me in Chennai. At 20 she is married off to a cousin who dies a month later. Family kicks her out of the house, she finds out she's contacted HIV from her former husband. What does she do? Become the first woman in India to publicly declare her status and and starts a country-wide organization for women living with the disease. What would I do or you do at 20 years old when faced with a reality like that?

I spent one night last week sitting in the grass with another (male) Fellow in Goa who could not stop talking for an hour and a half about the need to have sanitary pad options for poor girls in India and how it would improve health and school attendance. This man could not stop and would not stop until I promised to send him a list of all Fellows in the world working on the issue. How many men are there in India like that?

I spent days in meetings in Goa with a woman who was recently (last 2 months) kidnapped and returned for a ransom for her work which involves using micro-hydropower to not only electrify rural Indonesian villages, but create a sustainable, environmentally-friendly source of income for the villages at the same time. Countries all over Southeast Asia are now replicating her work.

These are three, three of over 2000 Fellows. People who are doing such important things in more creative ways than I could ever dream of. These are the people I get to work for and I'm probably one of the luckiest people in the world to have that opportunity.

Back From the Other Side of the World

"Hell on a stick" was the verbage used by one of my good friends and colleagues when they briefly saw me in Mumbai en route to DC. This was after I had fallen asleep on the floor of the Goa aiport but before the officials in Mumbai asked if I was "fit to fly" and definitely before I almost missed my flight out of Paris because I passed out for 2 hours in front of the gate. I hope I am never this sick again ever.

So how was India? India was amazing, Mumbai is an amazing city. Working in India with a boss who tends to bulldoze through people and cultural contingencies without even noticing how little respect she is gaining and how many people are crying is a bit more stressful. Its going to be an interesting gig shielding the world from her will.

In other news, I miss Madison. I miss the people. I miss the way everyone suddenly turns up in shorts and skirts when the temperature goes above 60 degrees. I miss the terrace and my friends and the paths by the lakeshore. I miss grilling out on the porch of 543 Mifflin and of girl talk face-to-face with my favorite girlfriends. I miss some people more than I can say and everyone more than I ever thought I could. DC is a lovely place for sure, but it could sure use some Madisonians headed this way soon....

...Its 6:30 in the AM and the birds are chirping...time to head on into the office and pick up the pieces...