My Story (after word)

So…yeah, when I started this thing it was essentially an easy way to chronicle my journeys (with out losing the journal) as well as to share the stories with my family and close friends. It seems as though my audience has now grown a bit. I must say it again that I am absolutely overwhelmed by all those that have found this site and left comments as well as their kind words of encouragement. People from Marlton (my old ‘hood), people from ECU (my old university), people from the Fresh days (my old dj gig…and so much more ;), people from San Fran and, of course, my wonderful family (including my Grandmother who I think probably just saw the internet for the first time)…all seeming so close at hand (and heart) while I’m so far away. Your words have seriously uplifted me and will carry me through the rest of this adventure! I’m very excited to reconnect in the near future with all of you that have posted (please continue to leave email addresses!). The proverbial “silver lining” to all this…something Radka and I have been talking about a lot recently. You have to be able to see the glimmer of light amidst so much darkness. Another silver lining has to be the number of travelers that were on the island during the Tsunami and how they are now lending a helping hand. All those that we have spoken with are continuing to use their connections back home to raise funds for the relief effort. What we have been hearing is that although the clean-up is going well down south, there has been difficulty in distributing the needed supplies. Stories of rats eating stockpiled food rations and medicine as well as relief crews being dispatched to unaffected areas have been common. As I mentioned before, several people we met during the disaster (Nic, Laura, Anna & Chad) have been personally returning to the south to bring medicines and clothing directly to the families they had met during their stay. They have also been taking families shopping for supplies to begin rebuilding their shelters and other essential needs such as boat motors. The main industry in the South, besides tourism, is fishing. The sooner these guys can get back on the water and earning their living, the sooner they can begin helping themselves. Nic has assured me that any money I can raise from you all will be personally distributed to those that befriended and looked after us in our time of need. They have been doing this on a priority basis: 1) food, water, medicine 2)shelter and housing 3)fishing equipment …and finally, if enough money is generated, there is the possibility of setting up a trust that would continue to help these people, mostly the children, in the years to come. I know many of you have already made contributions to international relief organizations (and the people of Sri Lanka definitely thank you) but if you can find a few extra bucks to spare, I can guarantee it would make a HUGE difference to those we have a personal connection to. For now…and I hope this is all right with you Dad, you can send contributions in care of:
Tom Cardaci
23873 Bailey Neck Drive
Onancock, VA 23417
He will be able to forward all donations to me so I can start to get it into the right hands right away.
Although these events will be on my mind (and, unfortunately in my dreams) for some time to come, Radka and I made the decision to move on and I’d like the blog to reflect that. This is still an amazing country and we have a lot more things to see and write about. And now that my audience has grown a bit, I’d love to use this opportunity to describe and teach a little about all the incredible beauty that does exist in this world. We are blessed to be able to see these places and I can’t wait to share more of our stories with the rest of you. And now, moving on…