"A ship in harbor is safe -- but that is not what ships are built for."
---John A. Shedd
Today I drove my very dear friend Salma to the airport to see her off on what will no doubt be an amazing trip. I think sometimes I tend to look for community service projects far and wide in connection with various non-profit organizations, without realizing that they can be very close to home, namely acts of kindness as simple as helping a friend or neighbor in whatever they might need.
She is taking her dad to the country of his birth - Pakistan, and also heading up to Kashmir to research an article on an American man there (Todd Shea) who is building hospitals for children. Among her luggage was a duffel bag filled with small toys and other items for children in those hospitals. They were collected from MoverMoms and other generous people that Salma knows.
This is a woman whom I greatly admire, in part for her sense of adventure but also for her sense of purpose. She is on a mission to take her father to see the places where he father spent many of his childhood years, but also to see the best side of mankind as she heads up to a freezing cold, war-torn and earthquake prone region, where Todd Shea does his humanitarian work.
Salma is truly a cultural ambassador, a bridge builder of people of different faiths and backgrounds. She is on her plane right now, so I guess all I hope and pray she has a safe journey - and that she returns with lots of wonderful stories to share.
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