Heresy

Become a butterfly this holiday season

It's inevitable, holidays are the season to exchange presents, with or without religion in the background. And we always ask ourselves what we can give to someone we care about, someone who's special. We wonder what we can give to our customers for them to remember us for the rest of the following year and help our business grow. What should we give away that's original, that set us apart, that's awesome.

I have an idea. I propose that we become butterflies this holiday season (see the blog titled "The butterfly effect"). I propose that the present we give is a wing flap that generates transformation in the world all year round: a present that makes us feel special will, in turn, make feel the one who receives it special and has an impact on the world....awesome, isn't it?

There's no simpler heresy than this: dare to give a present that's actually awesome and not something that nobody really needs. Dare to start transforming the world this holiday season!

Here I have a few suggestions for you to give away (the links will take you to the corresponding websites where you can make your donations):

1.  Adopt a polar bear. Cute, aren't they? well, fifty years from now, they may no longer exist because of global warming and a lack of legislative and political interest in their protection. Their habitat is changing, it's melting. Their small cubs now don't have much food to survive. For USD $20 you can give a polar bear and help it survive by supporting Defenders of Wildlife.

2.  Help a former guerrilla child in Colombia.  Thousands of children who are victims of absurd violence are dragged into a war forced by poverty, a lack of a family, or violence itself.  Yet they make the most courageous decisions they've ever made in their lives and decide to escape the guerrillas of which they are victims.  Now, they're facing the huge challenges of reincorporating themselves to society and overcoming their inimaginable traumas.  By donating $20 US dollars or more, you can help the Developing Minds Foundation generate transformation on the mountains in Colombia (see blog titled: A butterfly flapping its wings).

3. Adopt a sister, victim of violence and rape in the Congo. Hutu guerrilla members in the Democratic Republic of Congo have created an epidemic of rape against women, including from 10-month old babies to 80-year old women. These women are not only raped, tortured, and abused, but also in most cases infected with sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV and abandoned by their families.  There is a large number of cases of pregnancies which result from these rapes and, with them, there is an increasingly higher number of boys and girls who are victims of violence. By donating USD $25 you can adopt a "sister" in the Congo. You can communicate with her, learn about her struggle and how her life is transformed thanks to your small contribution. This cause is promoted by Women for Women International (see blog titled: Crying at a movie or pretending to avoid more tears)

4. Help prevent animal abuse. Every day thousands of animals are physically abused by their owners.  Helpless, trapped, and abused,  these poor creatures have no way to defend themselves and need us to lend them a hand. There are a lot of causes that help prevent abuse and help these animals recover after being victims of abuse.  By donating USD $20 or more you can save an animal and receive all the positive karma that this generous deed will generate in your life. My favorite organizations are:  American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, The Humane Society of the United States, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

5.  Give education to a child in a third-world country. Education is the only door that actually allows people to get out of poverty, which becomes a curse generation after generation.  By adopting a child who lives in extreme conditions of poverty in countries such as Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, India, El Salvador, etc., you will be able to communicate with him/her on a regular basis, exchange letters and find out about their progress in school, their likes, their development, and their environment.  You'll be able to accompany these children on their way to college. You will generate true transformation in return for USD $20 a month. You'll be transforming someone's life in association with Children International.

Well, then go ahead and start flapping your wings by giving a present of transformation this holiday season! 

Courage: taking action despite your fear

I love animals and of all animals, I'm crazy about dogs. Today I love them and respect them more than ever, especially after watching a video of a dog that completely risks his life on a highway in Chile to save another dog that had been run over by a car and was dying on the road.

Today my heresy is so big that it has no words. Today I'm going to let this heresy be taught by this dog. This time it's about the  meaning of the word COURAGE: to be afraid and take action anyway.

To act now or to cry watching the movie latter

A few years ago when I saw the movie "Hotel Rwanda" I could not avoid, besides the many tears, an incredible feeling of bewilderment, guilt and restlessness to know that this genocide happened while I was living my life without even hearing of the atrocities being committed. Africa and their reality seem to be far from our day to day, but the truth is that they are not, the truth is that we really connect with our essence at the time that we know and feel we are one with the universe. 

My heresy today is simple and profound: we are one with the universe, we are those who are suffering, we are those who needs us and if we can not be that, then we are nothing really. So now I want to give something of my own self. 

Today, the Democratic Republic of Congo is experiencing a situation almost impossible to rationalize. As a result of the civil war in Rwanda in which Hutu rebels killed nearly a million Tutsis; when General Nikunda (Tutsi) took office, Hutu rebels fled to the neighboring country, DR Congo, a country as large Eastern Europe as a whole, with incredible natural wealth (diamonds, cobalt, timber, copper, tantalite and others), high levels of corruption and minimum infrastructure and located on the border with Rwanda, in eastern DR Congo. What has developed is an infamous war against civilians that has lasted more than 10 years and has worsened since August of last year. The main weapon of war is the systematic and epidemic rape to women and children, massive amounts of rapes to humans from birth to 10 months to 70 years old. Not only do many children die product of these rapes and even some women require up to six surgeries to recover their bodies from the atrocities caused by repeated gang rapes, but these women are also later repudiated by their families, husbands and society that perceive rape as a form of infidelity. 

Abandoned by their husbands and in many cases HIV positive, completely traumatized, displaced from their land and their homes and without any vestige of hope for their lives and their future. The only feeling that keeps them alive is the fear that such nightmare will happen again in one of the many common guerrilla attacks to the refugee camps. 

That is the state in which we find ourselves, all of us, all of them in the Democratic Republic of Congo. What can we do? I propose two simple things, beyond them, I hope this blog serves to generate awareness and share many others this information so that Heresy becomes a tool for transformation. My first proposal is communication, I will share links to videos, testimonials and websites that describe the situation and I ask you to re-send this blog and such links to your friends and invite them to re send-and communicate in turn, if we help to create universal awareness that this is happening to us and affects us all, we can generate a critical mass that leads to action, we start flapping our butterfly wings, and we will create a tornado of transformation. 

My second proposal is action. The organization "Women for Women International" has an excellent program in which a monthly donation of $27 dollars helps one of these women that were victims of brutal and violent rapes, regain their lives through micro-credit, education, medicines and other simple but essential help, for those $27 dollars we earn a "sister" with whom we will be communicating and from whom we will learn not only about their tragedy, but also about restoring hope in life. For that $27 U.S. dollars are earning a masters degree in our lives on the value of everything we have and on gratitude to the universe for every glass of water that we can get from our refrigerator, the pillows we sleep on and many of the incredible simple gifts that we enjoy in life, we will learn to appreciate the fact that we don't have to live in constant fear of losing our dignity, security and life in a moment of senseless violence. 

Now that you know, what are you going to do to help stop it? How are you going to start flapping your wings? 

Links: 

- The Great Silence, a documentary on HBO: http://www.thegreatestsilence.org/ 

- Women for Women: http://www.womenforwomen.org/events-supporting-women/stop-fighting-in-congo- panel.php 

- Women of the Congo: http://www.womenofthecongo.com/why_congo 

- Video 60 minutes: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/11/60minutes/main3701249.shtml 

- BBC London News; http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3075537.stm 

Honorat, victim of repeated gang rapes over a year that when she became a sex slave for Hutu guerrilla. After escaping with her genitals smashed and more than five sexually transmitted diseases her family rejected her for being a social disgrace. She joined the Women for Women program who helped her to recover both physically and psychologically and is now ambassador to the world so that we don't become indifferent to this crime. Here is her testimony:

One butterfly flapping his wings

For those who want to have a bit of context I refer you to the "Butterfly Effect", a heresy that was published a couple of days ago. I had the great fortune to spend a few hours with a butterfly that constantly flaps its wings and whose impact I deeply touched in my soul. This butterfly is Philippe Houdard, Founder and President of Developing Minds Foundation, a small foundation (like a butterfly) that creates a tornado of love with every flapping of its wings. 

Philippe is a heretic, a "crazy guy" that strongly believes that only small amounts of money and large amounts of love are required to generate profound impact and transform the world, a citizen of the universe who understands the great Taoist principle that "we are all one", for there are no borders, no country, no language at all. With French genetic roots, educated in United States, he is an integral being committed to generate transformation through education, literacy and assistance to children in processes of post-conflict recovery. 

Developing Minds Foundation has programs in Brazil (Fabellas) and several sites in Colombia, like the Urabá Antioqueño, the mountains of Antioquia, the villages of La Calera and the communes in Medellín. Through small contributions (averaging $ 50), the structuring of simple and concrete projects, hours and hours spent in marketing and communication of its purpose and local partners to help coordinate the operation, Developing Minds delivers books published especially for rural families of abandoned villages in which there are no books, magazines or newspaper to read; holds workshops and retreats for groups of children that were former guerrilla rebels, victims of violence, incredible post-trauma syndromes and a huge fear for life after their return to society, in a simple sentence, Developing Minds is planting future in small contributions of large impact. 

The stories of these children that Philippe generously shared with me reach the deepest corners of the soul, the soul of anyone who is ONE with the universe and can feel the pain of these creatures as our own pain. One of the many stories that I heard is that of a child who was in the guerrilla with another child who was his cousin, this cousin was his only link to family, love and the real world, in a way, because the guerrilla takes them apart from their families. One night, another guerrilla's cell killed his cousin and since then he carried on his shoulders the pain and guilt for his death, he blamed himself somehow for his cousin's death.

Even months after escaping from the guerrillas, this child did not allow himself to be happy in any circumstance, even during activities where he was relaxing a little bit and the shadow of a smile was surfacing he, immediately suppressed himself and returned to his position of " I don't deserve to be happy" . During Thanksgiving week of 2008, he participated in one of the retreats organized by Developing Minds and during one conversation the psychologist that was leading the activity  asked him, "How could you honor your cousin's life?", His initial thought was to return to the guerrillas, to find who killed his cousin and take revenge on his hands ... then he said: "I think the best thing I could do to honor the my cousin's life would be to lead a life of happiness", he then smiled, cried and ran like a 6 year old child, as a human being who has just removed from his shoulders the weight of the universe ... In that moment, he gave himself permission to be happy. From my perspective, that is to generate a tornado with a simple flapping of our wings. 

The retreat in Medellin did not cost anything. The center where the children live donated the space, both the psychologist and Philippe donated their time and paid for their travel expenses, the activities were made with love, love took them into their hearts. The last literacy program of that took place in the Urabá Antioqueño cost $3,000 and gave books and a literacy workshop to 300 "campesinos" (farmers) families. The $ 3,000 came from 60 people who donated $50 each ... any of us have over 60 friends in Facebook, imagine the impact that we could have if we start flapping our wings! 

I leave you today with this heresy and a video of Philippe on one of his trips to remote villages in the mountains of Antioquia to deliver books, smiles and hopes for a better future. I hope I have touched, moved and inspired you to realize that we can be agents of change and impact on our world with very little investment on our part, we just need love and passion. Philippe, thank you for the love that you plant in our hearts and the impact you leave behind on each flapping of your wings! 

To learn more about Developing Minds Foundation, view photos and give your contributions: http://www.developingmindsfoundation.org/

Leadership in Action

I have been very fortunate my entire life. Since I can remember, my caring and loving heart has felt the compassion and desire to change the reality of so much tragedy, both human and animal. That is the reason why I have participated, and still do, in causes that touch me in the deepest ways. I have always had the dream to create something big, but work and daily life have always come in the way. That is the position of someone who sees life passing by and ends up being a spectator and an admirer of those who made it by throwing themselves into the void and making a difference out of that step.

I have been an international professor at Colombia’s Universidad Javeriana in Cali for the past six years. I teach courses in the Graduate School of Business Administration including: marketing strategy, corporate strategy, branding strategy, and leadership. I love this work because it allows me to meet people that are full of energy, dreams, and desire for learning. Furthermore, it requires me studying and it connects me with my loved homeland: My alma mater, my little hometown and, of course, my family. Typically, each subject is taught throughout an intense dynamic of discussion and a big amount of my dark humor. Each course nourishes me with new friends and good experiences.

Last October, I was incredibly fortunate to meet an absolutely amazing group of MBA students that attended my leadership class and, meanwhile, earned a piece of my heart.  During our days of interaction, intense discussions, reflection exercises and self-reflection, I started feeling like a student myself and ended up, or I would rather say, we ended up deeply touched in our hearts and souls, although, back then I didn’t realize why. With the excuse of sharing the best paella I have ever eaten in my life, we met again one month later, this time just to hang out as friends. We talked extensively about the effects of our class in each one of us.

From that conversation, wine, and paella, we came up with the initiative of creating a team project based on a social situation/problem which could lead to a solution with a strong impact. We will be all putting our work and soul into this project, without expecting any financial profit, but only the great reward of generating transformation through out this link of love we have created.

In this stage everyone in our group is thinking about options, discussing if we are going to focus on homeless children, displaced children, the environment, the youth, animals or  any other initiative in favor of our loved and suffered Cali which we wish to positively impact. The name we gave to this project is: Leadership in Action. The ingredients of this recipe include: opening, love, teamwork, trust, generosity, leadership, commitment, and, of course, action. All of these ingredients are already in our hearts, and therefore, we are all capable of changing the world, creating tribes of love that lead the way to transformation.

I will be telling you about my tribe and our project, hoping you join us or create your own, either way, hoping you step out from contemplation and compassion to a leadership strengthen by action!

Here are some pictures of our paella...

This blog was translated by Maria Isabel Escobar: http://englishandspanishtranslation.com/