Intro
At 2:48 - Greetings Xenophiles!
Today in 1913 the first pilot to parachute from an aircraft was Frenchman Adolphe Pégoud. I really hope it opened.
86 years ago today Leon Trotsky got an ice pick in his head. Which really, really hurt.
Today in 1968 a quarter of a million troops invaded what was then Czechoslovakia to suppress the Prague Spring.
On this day in 1882 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” debuted in Moscow.
And Happy Birthday to Robert Plant - 78 today. Now you know why we started with Black Dog.
WANDERING YEARS: 20- 40 YEARS OLD
MOVED FROM BAD JOB TO WORSE JOB…BAD RELATIONSHIPS…
MID 30’s…RETRAINED ‘FORESTRY & WOOD SCIENCE’ BANGOR UNI….
BY 1991 HAD A ‘FULL HOUSE’ OF USELESS QUALIFICATIONS: BSc, MSc, PGSE x2…& UB40!
FELL INTO TEACHING…FOUND A JOB TEACHING ‘SPECIAL NEEDS’ CHILDREN…
SPENT ~ 10 YEARS…LEARNING FROM THEM…NOT MUCH TEACHING DONE IN MY CLASS… BUT EMPATHY…THEY LOVED STORIES OF THE CHILDREN IN ROMANIA (ROBERT FLECK)…
SEE THAT PERIOD AS PREPARATION FOR FUTURE VOCATION…
WALKING TOWARDS THE LIGHT: 40 - 70+ YEARS OLD - 1
LEADING ‘PARALLEL LIVES’…SPECIAL NEEDS TEACHER & BI-ANNUAL VISITS TO ROMANIA
EARLY 90s…SAW DEVASTATION POST-COMMUNISM…ESPECIALLY THE VULNERABLE…
1991 FIRST ‘HUMANITARIAN AID’ TRIP…SUCEAVA & IASI BAPTIST CHURCHES…
SHOCKING VISIT TO MASSIVE ORPHANAGE…>200 TODDLERS…MOST TIED TO COTS… BROKEN SPIRITS<=> BROKE MINE TOO…
STIRRED UP A TURMOIL IN ME…LIKE I FELT AT 18…ONLY MUCH MAGNIFIED…
EACH YEAR RAN SMALL AID TRIPS, ZALAU…KIND DOCTOR THERE…
1994…HEARD ABOUT PEDIATRIC HIV-EPIDEMIC…ONLY AIDS HOSPICE IN CERNAVODA…ST LAURENCE…PAID A VISIT…FELT LIKE, “This is the place I can do something to help.”
MET SOME WONDERFUL ROMANIANS…DR. MATUSA…DOCUMENTED HIV-CASES,(VERY RISKY)
1997…ON A VISIT TO HOSPICE, LOST MANY CHILDREN IN SHORT PERIOD…FLORIN BALAN, 10 YEARS OLD…DIED IN MY ARMS…CRISIS OF FAITH FOR ME…
WALKING TOWARDS THE LIGHT: 40 - 70+ YEARS OLD - 2
CONVICTED TO GO ALL IN…QUIT MY JOB, SOLD MY HOUSE…MOVED TO ROMANIA…
WORKED FOR ‘C.I.D.’ FOR 3 YEARS…CORRUPTION RIFE…SO I QUIT IN 2000…
SET UP OUR CHARITY, ‘EVERYONE’S CHILD- ROMANIA’…BASED IN CONSTANTA… WORKED WITH DR. MATUSA FOR A WHILE…THEN BECAME INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY PROJECT…
SUPPORTED ~ 50 FAMILIES WITH AT LEAST ONE HIV-INFECTED FAMILY MEMBER..
THREE MAIN PROJECTS: COMMUNITY PROJECT; INDEPENDENT PROJECT; COUNSELLING PROJECT…VARIOUS PROGRAMMES WITHIN THOSE PROJECTS..
ON A PERSONAL LEVEL IN 2004 MET A WONDERFUL WOMAN, ALINA, WHO BELIEVED IN ME & WHAT I WAS TRYING TO DO…WE MARRIED IN 2008…
Next Chapter
STILL GOING STRONG…WELL BLESSED…HAVE A 4-YEAR OLD BOY, JAMIE…AUTISTIC/ NEURO-DIVERGENT…A NEW CHALLENGE, BUT GROWING THROUGH IT…