Americas Hub World Tours

 
The Sunday Parkways 2011 dates and locations are out!
May 22 – East PortlandJune 26 – North PortlandJuly 24 – NW/Downtown PortlandAugust 28 – Southeast PortlandSeptember 25 – Northeast Portland
Just remember – the fun happens on the 4th Sunday of the month, May – September!
NEW TIMESMay-August = 11AM – 4PMSeptember = Noon – 5PM

Sorella Luna is Going to Italy!!  Come to the Olive Oil Tasting event to find out more about our tour. Sorella Luna Italian Ceramics will be hosting an Olive Oil Tasting Event with Olive Grand Oils and vinegars. This will be a great opportunity for meeting new people and networking as well as having fun and tasting great oils and vinegars. Their website is www.olivegrand.com.

Sorella Luna will offer 10% discount on all products (except paintings) during the event. Perfect for Valentine’s Day!!

When:  Saturday, February 5, 2011       6-9 PM

Where:  Giovanni Angello
Sorella Luna Ceramics and Fine Arts
416 NW 12th Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97209
503.973.5862 (Gallery)
512.203.4030 (Mobile)
www.thesorellaluna.com

See you soon!

28 Days of Possibility

PS- gentlemen, don’t be fooled by the title

Yes! There are people in Africa who care! There are people in Africa who come to help! There are Africans who are committed to changing the path of history!

As the calls of “Moto! Moto!” (Chinyanja for ‘fire’) rang out, people
starting running from all directions towards the house. Running from
backyards, front yards and from inside houses, all with buckets of
water in their hands or on their heads. Some from near, some from far.
The amazing response procured unknown amounts of buckets of water from
friends, family and strangers, many of whom ran frantically this way
and that in search for more water. Ari and I collected and delivered
any and all water that we could from our household and yard to help
the cause, but after that supply was depleted we were left to stand
and watch as the flames grew higher and the roof disappeared into
smoke and flames.

People began to unload belongings out of the house while a few men
were standing on the burning roof frantically trying to both put it
out and also prevent it from spreading elsewhere. A table, chairs, a
bed, bags of rice and beans, shelves for a few electronics and a few
other belongings came out of the front door, all of which was
essentially everything they owned. The family’s fence was also broken
down to make access to all sides of the house easier and to prevent it
from catching fire also. But it’s dry season and it’s a grass and
bamboo roof, both of which are just as dry as the dusty earth these
days.

At times during the firefighting, it seemed like commotion and chaos,
but in reality it was an organized chaos that most everyone involved
had seen and experienced before in some way, shape or form, with the
only exception being young children who were  reduced to the role of
onlookers. A dozen or so men at some point early on volunteered to
fight the fire close up. Every time that their buckets emptied onto
the roof, they turned around and the squinting of their eyes and small
stumbles  this way and that way proved that the smoke was strong and
potent. When their eyes opened back up, you could see a faint look of
desperation, yet determination almost immediately took over and within
seconds, they had someone fill their bucket back up and they would run
back towards the house in another effort to douse the flames.

The worst part of it all was that the family had just rebuilt the roof
with a new bamboo frame covered by freshly cut dried grasses. For one
large bundle of grasses, it takes someone a day or so to collect and
bring home, depending on the location of where they got them.
Sometimes the grasses are collected from many kilometers away, in and
behind the hills and mountains that form the backdrop for the village.
Sometimes closer. Sometimes even further away. We don’t know how many
bundles of grasses it takes for a typical roof, but it’s easily more
than a half dozen. The dried bamboo comes from far north of here and
is sometimes sold near the Metangula market. Like so many other
necessities of life here, bamboo isn’t always easy to afford for many
families. This was to be their roof for the upcoming rainy season
which is supposed to begin in the upcoming weeks. Preparing roofs for
the rainy season isn’t the easiest of processes, and from start to
finish can be a quite a time consuming process. What took them weeks
and possibly months to purchase, collect and build was burned up and
destroyed in a matter of minutes.

The combination of flames and grasses in the dry season made it
inevitable that the roof was mostly destroyed. The silver lining in it
all, and yes there is one or two, is that they only lost their roof.
Nobody was killed or injured. None of their belongings destroyed. No
other roofs or fences caught on fire. With their house being build out
of mud bricks and mud mortar, nothing structurally was damaged or
effected in any way. If anything, some bricks are now more hardened
than before. Mama organized some people to help with the cleanup and
within three or four hours, there was no sign of a fire besides the
remaining charred bamboo frame of the roof. The fences had been put
back up, repaired and reinforced. The helpful people and onlookers had
long since gone home, many with empty buckets in their hands. And any
remaining grasses and bamboo that were deemed casualties of the fire
had been swept up and piled up across the path from their house. The
irony wasn’t lost on us that some day soon these same piles of charred
grasses and bamboos will disappear by means of fire.

The fire supposedly started as ash flew from their cooking fire and
onto the roof of their cooking hut. Their efforts to put out the fire
on the roof of the cooking hut were successful, but in the process the
roof of their house somehow caught on fire. The shouts of “Moto!
Moto!” soon followed and the response to them was astounding. No less
than remarkable. People quickly flocked to the fire with their water
buckets from anywhere and everywhere the minute they realized what was
going on. And when their buckets were quickly emptied, they ran home,
into other yards and to the wells to fill them back up again. At some
point in the initial commotion, the people at the well down the road
got word of the fire and all buckets that were filled from that point
on went directly towards the roof on fire. It didn’t matter who’s
house was on fire, it just mattered that someone’s house was on fire.

There is no fire department here. No fire engines. Heck, there’s not
even running water except for the three hours after sunrise.
Firefighters are found in everyone’s friends and families, helpful
neighbors and strangers and anybody who hears the shouts of “Moto!
Moto!”. They don’t wear heavy jackets, boots, helmets or uniforms.
They don’t have access to water tankers, ladders or hoses either. All
they need are buckets and dozens upon dozens of people able and
willing to fill them with water.

 Sometimes in life you get a chance to see into the pass and understand the value of leadership and vision for tomorrow!

 I know most of my friends were expecting to hear about my running adventure, places and things that I saw or experienced. The numbers of people I saw  impacted by such poor conditions, I could not run or walk or look around.  Every day; every step; every breath;  no matter what direction you look into thousand are without.  The numbers are just too great to write or try to paint a picture for neither you nor me to understand.  I decided not to take a lot of pictures showing every heart breaking moment, but rather share the most beautiful thing I learned about Africa.

 As I walked through Mozambique it did not take long to realize the impact of years of civil war, colonization and just when you think everything is getting better the massive floods of 2000 which killed over a million people.   I do realized that  all the struggles these people have gone through has not allow them to give up on tradition, pride and their willingness to give of themselves to stranger like myself passing through.  The people are what make  Africa such a strong and rich place.

One day I stood trying to picture a flood over 80 miles wide coming at me, and then finding the strength to move forward in life or history.  What really challenges my thought process was the lack of support from around the world.  What support the get is not getting to the people who need it the most.  Africa is rich with some of the best soil in the world for growing produce, yet not one sign of technological advancements.  The only tool I for farming was a handmade pit; something used at the turn of the century. No rain! No Food! More Diseases! More lives lost every day!  Now I understand why they say, Africa is growing poorer every day.

 Most of the homes are constructed out of straw and mud bricks for the village’s people who can manage to build them. As I looked around  every town, village and street corner  only to see thousands of people sleeping on the ground.  There were moment when I wished I was back home; moments when I wanted to ask someone what   happen; moments when I ask myself why the world  has allow this to continue.  Then I realized that I am only one person and nothing will change tomorrow because of what I say, but I do see people who are strong and will stay the course to change the pass and move forward no matter how many millions of lives  are lost. This is where  I question any support efforts through neither their own government nor the world! When countries come into Africa  only to take the resources (gold, minerals, oil coffee, etc….)  to create jobs back home in their factories.  I am not sure why or how the world has created a situation  where African cannot import or export their own goods; where the tariff are so high;  access to credit or  collateral does not exist.  As we move forward they move backward every day. 

With that said: I am lucky to have travel to such a rich country waiting for someone or the world to create a vision-imagination-leadership to pave the way into the future. The future of Africa is so dependent on the things we assume every day.  Now consider this thought; can you guess how many African have died in the minutes it has taken me to type this email?

The worst part of my experience was realizing in every town, village and area traveled, I was the first Black American the people I talked to had every experienced. More people need to go see! To understand! A picture will never help you understand what has happen.  I am going back one day soon.  The people need to see hope through us. The people need to see and talk to all people of the world in order to continue to see a vision and understand the value of strong leadership.                                              

My Travel:

Depart Portland

Lilongwe, Malawi

Mvuu Camp/Liwonde National Park

Cape Maclear

Mozambique (Mangoche,  Mandimba,  Lichinga)

Metangula

Likoma Island

Chinteche, Mzuzu, Karonga, Chitipa

Mbeya, Iringa, Kidtu Dar es Salaam

Johannesburg

 New York

Portland

Connection Complete!

For the last twenty years, the Banks-Vernonia State Trail has been making
progress to live up to its name … to be an unbroken recreational link
between these two communities in Washington and Columbia counties. Happily,
the last section — a new 1.5 mile section of trail and trailhead in Banks
near the junction of Banks Rd, Sellers Rd and Main Street — will be
finished this month.

Won’t you please join us at 11 a.m., October 29 in Banks for a brief
ceremony to celebrate the completed connection? I’m attaching an invitation
with more details. You may simply reply to this email with your RSVP by
Thursday, October 21.

If you plan to attend and would like to carpool with the Washington County
Visitors Association, please follow this link to register for transportation
from Beaverton to Banks and back: http://myridetobanks.eventbrite.com/

In the spirit of healthful living — a key strength of our trail parks –
this event is also a canned food drive benefitting Washington and Columbia
Counties. Please bring your food donation to the event. Anything will help.
What should you bring? Use this as your guide:
http://tinyurl.com/trail-food-drive

Thank you, and I hope to see you October 29 in Banks.

–
Chris Havel
Associate Director
Oregon Parks and Recreation Dept.
Desk: 503-986-0722
Cell: 503-931-2590
http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD

Looking for a new cultural experience this weekend? ”entre villa y una mujer desnuda”

 Consider this play with a historical bent, which is in Spanish with English supertitles, sponsored by the Mexican Consulate General with a guest Director from Mexico City.  It’s called “entre villa y una mujer desnuda” (villa and the naked woman) (no nudity) running from 2/11-3/6-10? It looks like a fun cultural and   educational experience.   Learn More! 

See you there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

News from Leslie’s Corner!

“The View Point Inn is just 22 miles from downtown Portland, Oregon, near Crown Point, nestled high on a one acre bluff, with a panoramic view of the entire Columbia River Gorge, the city lights of Portland, and Vancouver.

This 1924 world class boutique hotel and fine dining restaurant serves lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch. The Inn has celebrated Presidents, Hollywood Motion Picture Stars and European Royalty and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Available for banquets, private parties, weddings and special events.

Plan your birthday, anniversary or any other special celebration now at The View Point Inn. Purchase a $100 Gift Certificate and receive Lunch for Two* as a thank you. Purchase a $200 Gift Certificate and receive Dinner for Two* as a thank you.”

Attached is the latest friends and family promotion.  This offer is for the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival for this weekend ONLY and is at great price (40% off).  The weather forecast for this weekend is looking very good so we’re hoping many people will take advantage of this offer for firm space on the Tulips Tour.  Please help spread the word by sending this off to friend and family members and appropriate business associates.  

http://www.clippervacations.com/