Dominican Republic

Remembering Ada

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I’ve interviewed dozens of famous singers, authors, personalities, politicians and celebrities over the years but if I had the chance to choose one moment from my radio career so far that stands high above the others it is the opportunity to tell Ada’s story.

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been looking back at my visit to Haiti and Dominican Republic with Compassion Australia in April last year. The story of Ada will break your heart then give you renewed hope in the difference that each one of us can make in the lives of others.

I beg you to take just fourteen minutes to listen to Ada’s story.

If you want to hear something to lift your spirits just click play on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

The whole story is worth hearing but I’ll warn you now that it will really start to touch your heart around half way through.

Ada is a girl I met and interviewed in Dominican Republic. She was a beautiful twelve year old with a bright future. I wish I could show you the picture I had taken with the two of us but I prefer to keep her identity somewhat private. You’ll understand why as you listen.

I talked to Ada, I visited her home and talked to her parents. I’m sure that all of us that visited her home on that day will remember the warm hug she gave each one of us as we left. She is a remarkable young girl.

I managed to track down her sponsor in Australia and shared Ada’s story with her. Lisa’s reaction to hearing her sponsored child’s voice is priceless. Hearing Lisa describe how she feels when she hears just how much of an impact she has had on Ada’s life is inspiring.

I don’t know what else I can say but to again beg that you take the time to hear this amazing story.

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Remembering a remarkable experience

Apr 14th, 2009

by Rodney Olsen.

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This time last year I had just returned from my trip to Haiti and Dominican Republic with Compassion Australia.

The video in this post contains a bunch of photos I took on the trip with the audio of a segment I put together for my radio programme for last year’s Compassion Day.

If you’ve been reading my blog for any time you’ll know that we had to escape from Haiti after food riots in the city of Port-au-Prince intensified. We took a very tense drive to the airport to get out of the country just a couple of days into our visit which was to last around a week. The only way we were able to make it through was that we met up with a crew cab loaded with heavily armed police who agreed to escort us.

While the photos are from both countries, the audio is focussing on the situation in Haiti. I’ll post some audio from a remarkable story that came out of our visit to Dominican Republic in the coming days.

If you get the opportunity to watch the video I’d love to hear your feedback. Please leave your comments in the comments section of this post.

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What's the big idea?

Jan 2nd, 2009

by Rodney Olsen.

6 comments

Do you have any big ideas for 2009?

This time last year I was looking ahead to early April when I was scheduled to fly to Haiti with Compassion Australia to see their child sponsorship programmes at work. As it turned out we were only able to stay in Port au Prince for a couple of days before food riots made it necessary to leave the country and travel to neighbouring Dominican Republic to see Compassion’s work there.

There were other events throughout 2008 but the Compassion trip was certainly a highlight.

So what’s my big idea for 2009?

I guess it’s all about moving house and connecting with a new community. Over the past few months we’ve been busy getting our current home ready to sell so the task is now to find a buyer before finding a new house and moving. A big task indeed.

Do you have any major events or plans this year? Is there a change of jobs or a change of scenery on the radar for you? What are your big ideas for 2009?

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Cities in 2008

Dec 31st, 2008

by Rodney Olsen.

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Tony Sheng has been to quite a few cities this year.

I can’t boast the sixteen cities he can, but with my trips this year I can list a few. Several of my visits were just airport lounges rather than the cities themselves but I’ll take what I can get.

Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Los Angeles, California, USA

Miami, Florida, USA

Port au Prince, Haiti

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

So there you are. Seven. Better than most years for me but still not even close to Tony’s sixteen.

How many cities did you visit in 2008?

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7 Days 7 Dollars

Dec 16th, 2008

by Rodney Olsen.

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Az needs a haircut … but more on that later.

It’s estimated that over 600 million children are living on less than a dollar a day. That means they have less than one dollar each day to cover everything from food to housing to clothing and all the other things that most of us take for granted. While we’re promising ourselves not to over eat ‘too much’ this Christmas, millions of children around the world have little or nothing to eat.

Az Hamilton is Compassion Australia’s Youth Communications Specialist and he wanted to do something to highlight the need for something to be done about this terrible situation. He recently decided to try to live on a dollar a day for a week.

The story of his 7 Days 7 Dollars initiative is being told through daily videos on his website, 500DREADS.com.

I talked to Az during my morning programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM today.

Az was on the team I was part of which traveled to Haiti and Dominican Republic with Compassion Australia in April this year. I took the photo at the top of this post at a Compassion project in Haiti. The girls were fascinated by his hair. The trip affected Az so deeply that he is now working with Compassion Australia to see as many children as possible rescued out of poverty. Together we saw first hand the life saving work that Compassion carries out across the world.

As for that haircut, Az is promising to cut off all his dreadlocks once 500 children have been sponsored through Compassion via his site 500DREADS.com. If you think he needs a haircut just head to his site and follow the links.

To hear more from Az you can click play on the audio player at the bottom of this post and listen to the chat we had this morning.

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