Philippine Entry

When I think of the Philippines, I think of the children that impacted me during our community impact. While we were in Manila, we had the opportunity to work with Gawad Kalinga Baseco (Facebook Link), an organization with a vision to rebuild the slums, and Liter of Light, a similar organization with a vision to bring light into the homes of the slums. The group I was with went to the same site three days in a row, and the connections we made with the kids there will always be a part of me.

GK Baseco on BBC News    Liter of Life on Youtube

Gawad Kalinga official site

Philippine Video

Here's a video my friend from belgium made of the Philippines.

Taiwan Video

Here is a short video of my time in Taiwan.
Enjoy!

Taiwan Video

Taiwan; Reflection

Taiwan was, in ways, what I expected, in others, I was completely caught off guard. From staying in a temple the first night to performing at the national Taiwanese Independence day celebration (10/ 10) in Taipei, Taiwan was nothing short of spectacular.

The first week was very challenging for me. Being my first time out of my own country, I was overwhelmed by a culture that was so completely unfamiliar.
Culture shock for me was when I was so overwhelmed by my experiences that I didn't know how to process it.

After a few days, I decided I wanted to just experience Taiwan, and I stopped trying to process everything as I was experiencing it. After all, it's not every day you're in Taiwan with a traveling performing arts and community impact organization. Experience now, process later.

After I made this decision, I was all in (after recovering from jet lag of course). We had the opportunity to meet the president, work at the school for the blind, and visit more temples than I could have imagined.

Now, looking back to my time in Taiwan, the one thing that sticks out is all the people I got the chance to connect with. To the host families who invited me not only into their homes but their hearts. To the friendships that started, that grew, or that endured. To the audiences that gave so much during our shows.
Thank you.

I am truly blessed!

God Bless!

Jordan's Furniture, Concord, MAS

This was the coolest furniture store ever in Concord.

jordan's Furniture

Lowell, Mass: CI Story

I was one of the CI leaders for the Riverside Beautification Project this week. It was an amazing experience to work along side my cast members from around the world with a common goal. The first day we were at the site we cleared the side of a path that ran alongside the river and painted a mural under the bridge. It was rewarding to finally be able to experience the whole cast coming together and overcoming obstacles together in a CI setting.

At the beginning of the second day, it was raining, half the cast was off doing other things, and we came to the site to discover that our mural had graffiti on it from the night before.

This was not a good start to our day.

The few of us that were there focused on the path and, discouraged though we were,  did what we could in the rain.

However, halfway through the day, the sun came out and the rest of the cast came to our rescue. We formed a plan over lunch of how we would finish the cleaning of the path and what we would do with the mural.

By the end of the day,  we had finished the path, and all came together to paint a second mural with out handprints that read “Make A Change” (One of the songs in our new show).

This experience was one of the most inspiring I’ve had the fortune to have. I feel honored to be a part of such an amazing group of people.

Travel Day to Boston

Finally off to the east coast!
From 4am in Denver to 7pm in Lowell, Mass.

Thanks for the Prayers! God Bless!