Some years later, while comfortably ensconced in the states, I received a letter from one of the boys. He reminded me of who he was and said, "Sir, you will probably not remember me, but I wanted to thank you--
For now this kid was a member of -- which Indian Olympic Team do you think he was part of?
India's Olympic Weightlifting Lifting Team.
**
Peeling half a banana a day, that kid made his way with his friends and himself curling, pressing, and moving immovable walls.
Dirty Harry never had a better "Made Day" than mine that day.
A LOT more Americans should have the chance to break bread or peel half a banana with good people who move walls. And more often we ought to help them do it.
That's why I hope that after viewing this you will google People's Lobby's "American World Service Corps Congressional Proposal," a citizens initiated proposal that would dramatically grow the Peace Corps and other do good organizations at a time when America, and most other nations in the world, needs to develop a ROBUST peaceful national service program that fields a million Americans a year.
If we want to check the spread of and deal with the after effects of climate change, refugees, terroristic thinking, while producing fewer battles for our soldiers to bleed in, put more American sandals on the ground.
**
By the way, in 2000 I revisited the orphanage and took pictures of smiling, waving boys. I recently stacked them next to the orphans' pictures from decades ago.
God or some fifth dimension is playing me" because those are the same happy faces in 2000 that I photoed decades back.
After snapping photos of those boys, the smiling grown man who had been standing off to the side, came up and said, "Sir, you probably don't remember me but... "
One of the boys in that wild crowd of push-ups doers was now the managing director of a much bigger Our Lady's Home Orphanage.
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