socialgoodR

Damage to Kathmandu's property walls revealed a hidden world of class, privilege and memory

June 5, 2015

Revealed by Fallen Walls

I was at a barbecue in Sanepa the other night bidding goodbye to a couple who are leaving Nepal. Even though loads of ex-pats are choosing to return to their countries I didn’t actually know these guys were headed back to the UK until just before I got the invite. But it made sense. There are still aftershocks nearly…

Reflections on Nepal's earthquake, after one month

May 25, 2015

The Nepal Earthquake: Reflections One Month On

A month after Nepal’s most devastating earthquake in 80 years, there are at least a few things about which to be optimistic. A grassroots volunteer effort mobilized tens of thousands of Nepalese and international citizens to come together to get aid into remote parts of the country. The global funding community has pledged to open its wallet. Nepal’s neighbors…

March 3, 2015

Why #TheDress Is the Most Important Meme of the Year

It’s been fun to watch pundits try to add something – anything – of value to a worldwide discussion about a $77 dress. Google.com, for example, returned more than 29 million hits today for “TheDress”, comments which seem to generally fall into three camps: It’s an optical illusion, silly readers. Here’s what’s really going on. OMG,…

Why does Ello's design make me think of fancy pickles?

September 26, 2014

5 Reasons Why I’m Mellow on Ello (For Now)

I don’t usually post here about consumer technology trends, but this week I’ve been amused and concerned by all the rumblings about a new service called Ello. Because social media and networking platforms are so critical to the engagement efforts of — well — every NGO or nonprofit I know, I thought I’d share a few thoughts on…

The day's trash piles up in the Kathmandu neighborhood of Patan Dhoka

September 19, 2014

Falling In Love With Kathmandu’s Trash Piles

There’s no doubt that trash is an eyesore in Kathmandu. I passed by this picturesque example of my neighborhood trash piles today as I was out buying groceries. All over Kathmandu Valley you can find mounds of these colorful little bundles of plastic by the side of roads, streams and paths. Tongues carefully knitted together, the…

June 10, 2014

Mines and Memory in Cambodia

In Cambodia, which is roughly the size of Kansas, more than 4 million land mines and other unexploded ordinance lie beneath the earth. If you meditate on this — and the fact that the annual monsoon rains can often uproot, transport and rebury mines in new locations — you may, like me, choose to stay…

Learning from Addiction at New Life Foundation

April 6, 2014

New Life Foundation: Going to the Root of Suffering

As Westerners, we live in a world where a thousand times a day we are sold solutions to ease our pain. But what if suffering is meant for something? What if it has a purpose? Not far outside of Chiang Rai in northern Thailand, an intentional community called New Life Foundation is helping visitors understand…

A park in northern Thailand is helping elephants rediscover their nature.

March 16, 2014

This Park in Thailand May Be the Future for Asia’s Elephants

Note: If you’re going to Thailand you’ll probably want to visit an elephant park at some point. I recommend Elephant Nature Park. (Special thanks to Caroline Schiff for the amazing photos.) More than 60,000 muscles can be found in the incredible trunk of the Asian elephant. Together they form a sort of mega nose-mouth-arm that…

National identity and King Bhumibol are everywhere in Thailand.

March 9, 2014

Dim Sum, Monarchy and Political Change in Thailand

First she told me she wanted to get rid of the government. Then she asked me how I liked the dumplings. It was late afternoon in Bangkok’s Chinatown, and we were having lunch with one of Thailand’s political protesters. Eight floors below us the narrow streets were gridlocked with cars and tuk tuks, motorcycle taxis…

How is Thailand reconciling the life of the spirit and the life of the street?

March 5, 2014

Two Sides of Bangkok

We were starting to get worried about Bangkok. As our doorway into Asia and the first stop on our journey, Bangkok’s tourist-friendly amenities were supposed to ease our way from one mode and into another. But four months before we got here, anti-corruption protests broke out and with each week the reports grew more alarming.…