"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."
- Mark Twain
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"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." - Mark Twain
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Get Involved
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August 28, 2008 | |||||||
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 Under Sail by Kate Menser Posted August 2, 2001 When your job brings wonder to the eyes of children in places you once only dreamed of, it changes the way you feel when you wake up in the morning. NEW Reader Responses are a goodthing! Follow along by clicking here. Join Gail Johnson of Brooklyn, New York, in a conversation on Under Sail. Dear readers, The sun was just beginning to set, the sea breeze actually raising goosebumps on my arms as Roy and I walked down the beach on rugged, jungly Malekula Island, Vanuatu, him shouldering two styrofoam fishing boxes full of school books, me hefting a roll of 14 National Geographic laminated wall maps. We were heading for the school where Roy teaches many of the 198 students from four villages around Malekula, a large and still fiercely traditional island in the Vanuatu group, just on the western edge of the South Pacific. As we walked, barefoot brown-skinned children in various states of ragged dress seemed to fall out of the palm trees leaning over the sand to walk behind us. Shy at first, they responded quickly to an encouraging smile and were soon walking by my side holding on to my hand, my arm, my shorts or shirt, beaming smiles that would light up New York City. I couldn't help smiling as I thought, "This is my job!" I am the director of a charitable organization called WorldWise, Inc. Our mission is to broaden the cultural understanding of children worldwide through our educational Web site and to provide for some of the educational needs of children living on isolated islands around the world. By partnering with the 180-foot sail training ship Picton Castle, the only Tall Ship currently engaged in round-the-world sail training voyages, we have been able to carry books, school supplies, and our wonderful National Geographic maps to some of the most remote islands in the world, including tiny Pitcairn Island, Palmerston and Puka Puka Atolls in the Cook Island group, and Vava'u and Ha'api Islands in the Kingdom of Tonga. People have often asked me why I do what I do. After all, I get horribly seasick in the calmest waters. Why would I choose to sail around the world for a living? It's because of moments like we had in Malekula. Or in Tonga where the teachers at one school said we were an answer to their prayers. When I see the eyes of a Rarotongan student light up as she steps foot on the ship's deck, when I get to spend a day helping teach nine students at the Palmerston Lucky School, when I get an excited question about life on the ship from an eager student following our Web site, everything becomes worth it. It's a way for us and the ship to give back to the people who give so much to us when we visit their islands. Roy and I and our posse of children left the books in an empty classroom of the sparsely furnished, ill-equipped school. As the children leapt for my newly freed hands, laughing as they pulled me down to stroke my straight, light brown hair, I knew that we would remember our visit to Malekula with happiness for the rest of our lives. It is my hope that through WorldWise, the people of Malekula, and of all the places we visit, will remember us and the Picton Castle the same way.
Kate Menser (e-mail Kate) |
 The tall ship Picton Castle, current home of WorldWise, Inc. TALK ABOUT IT Do you have a creative way of bringing good things to your community and the world? Share your stories. LEARN ABOUT IT ::WorldWise, Inc. ::The tall ship Picton Castle
DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT
Readers Respond What a creative way to make a contribution to the world. Teaching children while sailing the seas. I can think of nothing better.
- Gail Johnson Dear GoodThings, I thought this story was great! After just seeing some tall ships at the Tall Ship 2001 Challenge in Bay City, Michigan, and reading this letter, I am overjoyed at the thought of traveling the seaways and doing something for the human race!
- Deborah Wade Dear GoodThings, I enjoyed reading this letter immensely! Two of the greatest stories I like to hear are about people helping people in the world community and people who have incredibly fulfilling "jobs." Thanks so much for sharing this.
- Holly Beyar Dear GoodThings, Totally commendable. My dream. Thank you for sharing these wonderful people with me. Perhaps I will contact them or be a part of their team.
- Pamela St. Germaine Dear GoodThings, I was really thrilled to read Kate's account of her trip to the south Pacific islands. If heaven is here on Earth, then she must be walking on it. Good luck to her on her future travels.
- Mohamed Dahir
Want to share your thoughts or ideas with other people who care about good things? Send 'em our way. |
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