Hope in El Salvador
I recently went on a tour of the new Asociación Salvadoreña de Autismo building (the Salvadoran Autism Association). It was a stark contrast to the interview I’d filmed the previous day hours away in a poor village of the Rio Lempa. The Asociación Salvadoreña de Autismo (ASA) is a very young organization and has not yet opened their new facility completely. It is a Salvadoran... Read More
History of Violence
In order to understand what it is like to seek out interviews with families affected by autism here in El Salvador an understanding of El Salvador’s politics is needed. El Salvador is one of the Central American countries with a brutal horrific past. Between 1979 and 1992 over 75,000 people were killed during their civil war. Entire colleges of Jesuits were killed during the... Read More
The journey begins… again!
It was late. I crawled beneath my chocolate Egyptian cotton duvet, the frost licking at the window, threatening to invade the warmth of my room. The sounds of bubbling water filled the room with a relaxed gurgle as the light of floating tea-lights danced over the water cascading down the fountain I use as a humidifier. The mirrors in my room showed the memories of past journeys... Read More
Preparations
Adam's gear for the 3rd leg of AfAI booked my flight to El Salvador yesterday. I leave Edmonton on March 16 and arrive in San Salvador, El Salvador at 7:30 on the 17th. The adventure officially continues on the 16th! A new friend, someone I met last week at a coffee shop, asked me, “How do you prepare for an adventure like yours?” I think it’s pretty simply to prepare for... Read More
I do speak Spanish
I’m about to head out on the second leg of my journey through Latin America and I’ve had to do a lot of logistics, planning, and general contemplation about the next 4 months of my life. Some of that has involved looking back objectively to overcome the limiting areas – or areas that were negatively affecting my effectiveness during the last foray into Latin America. One... Read More
Excited about the New Year
I am currently in my friend RJ’s car. It’s 10:49, dark and rainy. I-85 passes beneath us on our journey to RJ’s home in Charlotte, NC. We just got off of a “work cruise”…that’s right, a work cruise. RJ and I work together on multiple ongoing projects so that when my journey with AfA is over my net worth is not ZERO. In fact, I will earn enough this year that come... Read More
Home
It’s been weird being back, to say the least. Malls, freeways, driving everywhere, winter, grocery stores that have everything you need and coffee shops – these things seem foreign to me now. Or, at least they seem kind of foreign – like they are from a reoccurring dream I had in my childhood and had forgotten but once knew with clarity. Coming home was full of stark contrasts.... Read More
The 1st (and last) Robbery of 2011
I’m sitting across the street from the condo that has been my home for the past few days as I finish my time here in Belize. Tomorrow I’m leaving Ambergris Caye to head back to the mainland and back to Canada. Being the new year I had to prepare for it in a way most people wouldn’t think to – I had to stockpile money. Now, I don’t mean HUGE sums of... Read More
Looking Back on 2010
2010 started in North Carolina and ended in Belize. There were ups and downs, highs and lows and a whole lot of change. I will recap some of the highlights for you by month. January: I filmed the story of an individual with autism in North Carolina, travelled back home to Canada for a few days. February: Attended the “Athletes for a Better World” Event on behalf of a friend,... Read More
Christmas at the Claus’s
I spent last Christmas with friends in North Carolina – this year I spent it with some of my mom’s family down here in San Pedro, Belize (it’s on an island). I didn’t stay with them though. No, Kate and I stayed in the home of some friends of ours who’d gone back to mainland to visit family and left us the keys to their place. However, it all seemed a little too convenient... Read More
