Compassion Bloggers in India

April 25, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
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Hope in CalcuttaOK … I admit it … I’m jealous.

A bunch of bloggers is getting to combine two things that I’m passionate about – India and Compassion.

From tomorrow until the 2nd of May a group of five bloggers will leave their comfortable lives behind to witness firsthand the ministry of Compassion International to the poor of East India. I imagine that the trip will be similar to the one that I took just over a year ago to Haiti and Dominican Republic where we saw how Compassion is making a difference in the lives of those who live in desperate poverty.

I was travelling with Compassion Australia, part of the worldwide Compassion family. What I saw absolutely convinced me that not only can we make a difference, but that Compassion is an organisation that can use our money wisely to see the greatest benefit delivered to each child in their projects. Working alongside the local churches in the areas they serve, Compassion can absolutely guarantee that they won’t use a one size fits all solution. The partnership with the local church ensures that Compassion is dealing with specific local issues and tackling problems in the best possible way for the local people of any area.

As well as loving the work that Compassion does, I have a real love of India.

I’ve been to India twice, once in 2003 and once in 2005. Both times I was there to serve the local Bible Society through Bike for Bibles. I’d jump on a plane tomorrow if I was given the opportunity to visit India again. It’s a country that assaults all of your senses from the moment you step off the plane. It’s full of colour, smells, tastes and incredible experiences. It’s also a place where many are living desperate lives. My visit to one of the slums near Delhi will stay with me forever. I’ll never forget the pride on the face of the man who was showing us around as he pointed out his home to us. It was just metres away from a wide open sewer. The stench was disgusting. He was so pleased that we could see his home.

If you want to follow the Compassion Bloggers over the coming days either click the banner in this post or click here. One of the bloggers I read regularly is Anne Jackson of Flower Dust. She’s one of the bloggers on the tour and you can follow her account of the trip by clicking here.

You may never have the opportunity or the desire to visit a developing country but I beg you to follow these bloggers and try to put yourself in their shoes in the coming days. Let your heart break with the things that break their hearts and let your heart rise as they discover the hope that Compassion is offering in desperate situations.



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Remembering Ada

April 15, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
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SantoDomingo.jpg

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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A step back in time

April 5, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
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A lot has happened over the past year. I won’t bore you with all the details but there have been some fairly major changes and life events within twelve short months.

  • We’ve lost two close family members. Both died way too young.
  • The radio station I work for has moved across the city.
  • We decided to move house and are still going through the ‘sell one house buy another’ process.
  • Our ten year old son James spent five weeks overseas with Pauline’s mum.

There have been plenty of other things happening, most of which can be found in my blog posts from the past year.

On this day last year I was getting ready to leave Perth for an amazing adventure. Below is some of what I wrote early on Saturday morning the 5th of April 2008. At the time I really had no idea what was going to happen.

I’m the only one up in my house at the moment but very soon we’ll all be sharing our last breakfast together for ten days.

I have to be at the airport at around 9:45 to fly out at 10:45. Between now and then I need to put all the clothes my Pauline has so wonderfully prepared for me into my case and then double check that I have everything I need. (I just know I’ll forget something.)

Over the next couple of days I’ll fly from Perth to Sydney then to Los Angeles then Miami and finally on to Haiti. I’ll be in Haiti for around a week before I repeat the entire process in reverse.

I feel totally unprepared but I’m sure that’s what long flights are all about. The flights will give me time to finally stop and soak in the information that I haven’t had time to process so far. I’ll read about Haiti and find out a little bit more of what to expect, I’ll read the instructions to my audio recorder to make sure that I know what I’m doing when I start interviewing people from Compassion and those they serve.

That was the start of my journey with Compassion Australia to see the amazing work they do in developing countries.

Little did I know that I’d only spend a couple of days in Haiti and that we’d have to enlist the services of an armed police escort to get us to the airport to leave the country as fires and violent protests took over the city of Port-au-Prince.

Over the next few days I’ll re-visit some of that trip and look at the highs and the heartbreaks.



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7 Days 7 Dollars

December 16, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
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az.jpgAz 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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Global Food Crisis

October 30, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
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This video from Compassion gives a little of the background for the Global Food Crisis.

If you care enough to want to see change and to save the lives of those who are suffering the most, please consider joining me on the FAST for FOOD throughout November.

Please read my previous post Every 7 Seconds … for more information.



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