Ada Broke My Heart

January 11, 2012
by Rodney Olsen
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SantoDomingo.jpgNext month I’ll be cycling to release children from poverty. Today I want to share part of the reason why I’m taking on that challenge.

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. I’ll tell you more about that story in a few moments.

Over the past couple of months I’ve been looking back at my visit to Haiti and Dominican Republic with Compassion Australia in April 2008. That visit is the main reason I’m passionate about taking park in the 25000 Spins Great Ocean Road Challenge. Next month I’ll be riding 290 kilometres in three days and I need your support. By sponsoring my efforts on the challenge you’ll be releasing children from poverty. You’ll be giving children a real chance at life. Please visit my fundraising page and make a contribution. Maybe you can afford to sponsor me for a dollar a kilometre, maybe 50 cents a kilometre, or perhaps you’d just like to donate $10, $20, $50 or any other amount.

Ada’s Story

As I mentioned before, telling Ada’s story was a real highlight for me. The story of this young girl 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. I know that for many, setting aside fourteen minutes is too much to ask. If you’re one of the few who takes the time, I guarantee it’ll be worth it.

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. If you do take the time, please let me know.



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Losing Everything

January 11, 2012
by Rodney Olsen
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How would you cope if everything you owned was suddenly gone? What would you do if you not only lost all your possessions but your family was completely wiped out? Would you be able to rebuild your life if you lost everything?

Yesterday marked a year since heart breaking floods swept through parts of Queensland. Lives were lost, homes were destroyed, some people lost everything.

The earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan last year were absolutely devastating. We saw vision of entire towns being destroyed as a massive, surging wall of water forced its way through community after community. The death toll was over 15 000 with many more lost or injured. We don’t have to think back too far to remember the Haitian earthquake that killed around 220 000, injured more than 300 000 and affected 3.5 million people. At the end of 2004 there was the Tsunami that killed over 230 000 people in fourteen countries

Over the last several years we’ve seen an increase in floods, earthquakes, fires, natural disasters, wars and continuing instability in various regions around the world.

It seems that millions of people around the world are being faced with the reality of losing everything. World events have caused me to ask myself how I would cope in such a situation.

Sometimes the loss isn’t on such a large scale. We hear of family homes burning down leaving the occupants with just the clothes on their backs. How do you recover from something like that?

Where is my security?

The question I’m forced to ask is, “Where is my security?” Am I placing my security in the ‘stuff’ I accumulate? Is my security in my family or friends? Do I place my security in my own health? All of these could be ripped away from me in seconds.

I’ve seen brave people on television talking about how they’ve rebuilt their lives after tragedy. Could I do that? Could you?

My hope is that I’m never faced with having to rebuild my after losing everything but if something did happen I hope that I would put my security in the only real constant I know.

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.

No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:38-39

How would you begin again if you ever lost everything?



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Hopman Cup Revisited

January 7, 2012
by Rodney Olsen
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Around 21 years after my first trip to the Hopman Cup I made a return visit this week. Pauline and I spent Wednesday watching some fantastic tennis amongst great company.

The first time I went to the Burswood Dome to see a Hopman Cup session was in late December 1990 and I watched the Italian team of Paolo Canè and Raffaella Reggi beaten by the Yugosalvian duo of Goran Prpic and Monica Seles, who then went on to conquer the US team for the 1991 title. To cut a long story short I was seated in the Italian team’s private box enjoying some generous hospitality and the company of the Italian players when they weren’t on court.

All these years later, Pauline and I were invited to share a court-side box to watch Bulgaria’s team of Grigor Dimitrov and Tsvetana Pironkova defeat Denmark’s Frederik Nielsen and Caroline Wozniacki.

The Hopman Cup is a mixed competition where male and female players are together on combined teams and represent their country. Players are invited to attend.

Eight nations are selected annually to compete in the Hopman Cup. Each team consists of one male player and one female player. Each match-up between two teams at the championships consists of:

One women’s singles match
One men’s singles match
One mixed doubles match

Each year the eight competing teams are separated into two groups of four (with two teams being seeded) and face-off against each of the other three teams in their group in a round-robin format. These seedings ensure that each group has approximately similar strength. The top team in each group then meet in a final to decide the champions. – Wiki

Caroline Wozniacki is the current women’s world number one player so we were assured of some great tennis right from the start. The women’s match went for around two and a half hours, the longest match of the cup. Wozniacki won the match for Denmark but Bulgaria won both the men’s and nixed doubles matches. The program told us that sessions could last for around five hours. This Session lasted seven hours with a lot of hard fought games throughout a rather warm day.

I’m hoping that it won’t be another 21 years before I get to enjoy the Hopman Cup again.



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Cycling to Release Children from Poverty

January 2, 2012
by Rodney Olsen
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Please take the time to watch the video above. In it I tell the story of escaping Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, as rioting escalated and smoke from burning barricades filled the air.

Haiti is just one country where Compassion is working. All over the world, often in difficult circumstances, Compassion is working to release children from poverty. They can only do their job if we’re prepared to get involved.

Having seen first hand, both in Haiti and Dominican Republic, how effective Compassion’s work is, I am determined to do more to help. That’s why from the 12th to the 14th of February 2012 I’ll be taking part in the 25000 Spins Great Ocean Road Challenge.

I’ll be riding 290 kilometres in three days and I need your support. By sponsoring my efforts on the challenge you’ll be releasing children from poverty. You’ll be giving children a real chance at life. Please visit my fundraising page and make a contribution. Maybe you can afford to sponsor me for a dollar a kilometre, maybe 50 cents a kilometre, or perhaps you’d just like to donate $10, $20, $50 or any other amount.

The other thing I’d ask you to do is to spread the video as far and as wide as you can so that it make the biggest impact in releasing children from poverty. Please put it on your blog, share it on Facebook, use the sharing buttons below and do whatever else you can do to help raise much needed funding to support the work of Compassion.



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