I found an interesting guy out there in the blogosphere – actually he’s in a lot of other places too like newspapers around the world and even on television — but I found him on a blog.
His Web site is called Modern Gonzo and in one piece he reflects on the serendipitous travel experience of randomly meeting people and the pure potential that lies within such an event.
“I call it the People Chain. It’s like Facebook, offline, with edge.” He continues, “The idea is to get random contacts in random places and see where it leads you. Might be a palace, might be a dark alley, but knowing anyone here who knows anyone there usually leads everywhere.”
The guy is Robin Esrock and in this particular blog in which I first encountered him, he’s in Ethiopia. He has only one contact in the entire country and it’s a fellow named Joseph about whom he knows absolutely nothing. “We had a mutual friend and since the rest of Addis Ababa’s five million population were complete strangers, that was a start.”
After reading Esrock’s post I learn more about Joseph. He was born in Ethiopia and immigrated to Canada at a young age. This Joseph of Ethiopia became the Canadian cross-country champion, competing in the World Championships. Later on, he made a fortune in the dotcom days as an entrepreneur.
After that, he decided it was time to give something back to his homeland and packed his family and moved back to Ethiopia. UniqueProjects is a charity he founded to help orphans and young impoverished kids with a knack for competitive running.
Joseph explains of his work with the children, “Look, even if they don’t get to the Olympics, running encourages them to succeed, to discipline themselves, to focus on good, healthy behavior. I understand what it can do for an individual. These guys were training with no shoes, no homes and one meal a day. This will give them confidence no matter what they decide to do.”
If I’d originally come across Joseph through his Web site, instead of on a blog, I too would know nothing about him. On the site, there is no bio and I quite honestly may not have given it a second glance. There’s a photo of some children under a headline that says “Sponsor an orphan or a child in destitute Ethiopia for $1 a day.” There’s a contact address in British Columbia, Canada and another in Addis Ababa Ethiopia and a basic form to fill out personal details and payment. That’s it.
But I came across him randomly, becoming another link in the chain — a tonic writer finding Joseph
because of Robin in a search engine on an obscure site with the right tag lines, learning a little more about him and the authenticity behind his work, wondering about the potential of such a chance event. And now you know about him, too. How’s that for serendipity?
It’s only $1 a day: UniqueProjects.
Photo courtesy of elcaarchives via Flickr.