Helping Orphans in Nepal

Bizarre chaos surrounds me. Needing a quiet break, I retreat to the only place in the building for 5 minutes of peace and quiet. No phone calls, no contract questions, no emails about necessary training to complete. Having worked through lunch, I knew that 5 minutes would be refreshing. The place I found rest: the two-stall, air conditioned bathroom. I even locked the door.

Since I needed quiet and not a bladder break, I checked out a little magazine on the back of the toilet. I skimmed through it to get caught on a particular story. The headline read: "Helping Orphans in Nepal" and had this picture

Anything related to orphans right now catches my attention. If I'm willing to dig into it at all, it also tends to tear open my emotions and suck me in.

I was able to read these few paragraphs before my silence was distracted while someone was jangling on the locked door:

Conor Grennan crept along a cliff wall, the yellow beam from his headlamp the only light piercing the black Himalayan night. He could hear the icy rush of the river far below him and knew that one misstep could send him plunging off the narrow path. His knee throbbed with pain from weeks of trekking, but he pressed on.In the remote mountain villages of Nepal, even natives avoid walking at night. They had warned the 32-year-old American that it was far too treacherous. But Grennan offered two porters double pay and insisted he had no choice. This wasn't an adventure. It was a mission.

I'm not one to sit and read on the porclain throne. I've done so on occassion when our home is quite chaotic; but not at work. After reading this intro, I was hooked. I found myself wanting to go back for another reading break. Today was one of those times. I read a few more paragraphs and was totally impressed with this guys willingness to give of himself to those in need. I want to be like that when I grow up! Today, I couldn't justify the reading break when I have contracts to get done. So, I came back to my desk, googled the guy's name and found the article online at Readers Digest. Tamara Jones (nice first name, don't ya think) wrote the article and I thought you might enjoy and appreciate reading... from your computer screen and not the porclain throne. Here's the link to the Helping Orphans in Nepal article.