I find it funny how people’s words can have such a profound effect on people. Not that I thought they didn’t, but I’m just beginning to realize the extent to which this is possible. A sibling can say something meant as a joke that can be taken to such great heights. A conversation between a boy and a girl can leave one in tears or incandescently happy. A single word uttered by a stranger can have a profound effect on someone and play up their insecurities or build up his or her confidence. As ludicrous as this idea may seem, the words we say (I say) should be more carefully selected. Everything we say has an effect on someone else. The words we say to ourselves even do this.
This mother and child—and this part of Mogadishu—show the toll of the overlapping political, security, and public health crises in Somalia, which have put an immense burden on women and children.
Years marked by conflict, drought, and a profound lack of governance culminated in a massive humanitarian crisis in the second half of 2011, to which MSF responded by expanding its programs in Somalia and for the huge numbers of Somali refugees who sought aid in Kenya and Ethiopia.
Photo: Somalia © Lynsey Addario/VII
171Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm
Winston Churchill
Dr. Paul Farmer…everything I want to be and more. Except the man part. I’d rather not become a man.
After a recent typhoon caused severe, and in some cases fatal, flooding on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) team began providing emergency medical assistance to people whose houses were destroyed and who are now living in evacuation centres. See more on the MSF photo blog.
Photo: © Pauline Busson
“Blessed are the sleepy, for they shall soon fall off” -Friedrich Nietsche
I’m never sleeping again. As necessary as sleep is, I feel as though I can be much more productive with my time. I could start by being productive during the day but until I get that figured out, I’ll sleep as little as possible at night. Often my most productive hours fall between midnight and two in the morning. Those are the times when my ideas stem into larger, more far-fetched ideas. I have a notebook type thing (sometimes known as a journal) where I write my insane ideas and pledge to myself that someday I’ll fulfill them. The pending list includes everything from taking a trip in a hot air balloon to earning the Nobel Peace Prize. Only time will tell, but I plan on making these things happen. I don’t know how yet but I’m planning on improvising a lot in my life. So we’ll see how far that gets me.
I just read that a 75 year old person will have slept about 23 years. That’s 30% of my life I will have wasted with sleep. Not happening to me, my friends.
