If I Can Do It, So Can You.

  I feed my head everyday. I learn from those who have succeeded and from those who have failed. And gotten back up again and again. I listen to the reasons that people have given for why they failed and it always seems to fall back into three common themes. "I did not have enough capital investment, I did not have the right people with me or the market conditions were not favorable. Many people don't fail because they never even get started down the path of their dreams and vision allowing fears to cripple them. They are waiting for the perfect time, the perfect opportunity and the perfect conditions. Anyone who has succeeded has learned that there will never be a perfect ideal time to start any project. You simply have to take reasonable and calculated risks but risks nonetheless. With that in mind, I would like to share this encouragement to those who are teetering on the brink of greatness and need that final nudge toward the success.

  I embraced my Whys and my burning passion to create a non-profit project for poor children in the Peruvian Andes called Changes for New Hope. (www.changesfornewhope.org)  Those Whys overcame all the Whats that got in my way to stop me. People will say that failure is not an option but that is utter malarky. Failure is the biggest and most prevalent option that looms directly behind you. But it is also a choice that only you can make. I failed repeatedly and got back up each time smarter than before. Was it easy? No, but success demanded that I struggle back up and win, no matter what.

  Let's take a closer look at those excuses again.

1. Underfunded. I came to Peru in 2009 with only the money I got from the sale of my personal property back in the U.S. to live on indefinitely and to turn my vision into a reality. The total donations for our first year from all sources was $110.

2. People problems. I was overwhelmed by the number of people willing to help me get my project off the ground, for pay. The concept of a volunteer organization had to be explained over and over, to no avail. If I couldn't pay the staff , those poor children could starve as far as they were concerned. For the first several years, with rare exception, I was alone to develop this dream.

3. Wrong time, conditions or circumstances. I was an American in the Peruvian Andes being led to believe most people spoke English. They didn't. I spoke no Spanish or Quechua at the time. I was completely ignorant of the culture and customs of the local people. Altitude was a constant factor until I adjusted. I got food poisoning twice, lost fifty pounds in the first six months, and paid massive "Gringo tax" which is what overcharging foreigners in every marketplace is called. What wasn't nailed to the floor grew legs. Getting the same answer twice was an impossibility and a constant frustration.

  If I wanted excuses to pack it in and say "Well, at least I gave it a shot" and go home, I had my baker's dozen of them. So why the hell did I stay? The Whys. I had visited a few Latin American countries before this which compelled me to not only feel compassion for the destitution of the children that they lived in, but to put that compassion into action. Why I came to Peru and what I intended to accomplish was the burning 'must' that made the 'whats' fade into inconsequential vapor. I was neither the "Great White Hope" nor the best man for the job. I was however, the most determined person to make a success out of utter despair. In many of those remote pueblos, I was the only foreign person to ever visit them and offer humanitarian aid. To this day I describe myself as just an ordinary man who gave an extraordinary damn.

  Fast forwarding to 2016, Changes for New Hope has become a successful NGO in the Ancash region. I started this project in 2009 with just fifteen curious children in a small adobe front room of a rented house. As of 2016, we have had dozens of dedicated volunteers from the international community as well as local Peruvians who also shared my vision. Our core messge, "Haz lo Correcto-Do the Right Thing" not only helped to build values in our own children but was adopted as a city-wide campaign initiative by the mayor of Huaraz. We taught art to bridge my lacking Spanish language and we have hosted six art exhibitions, four of which were in national museums. Change for New Hope also addressed anemia, malnutrition and rampant parasite infestation among the children by providing vitamins and anti-parasite medicine to thousands of children throughout the region. Last year, over 2000 children were reached by our efforts. We have also distributed used clothing via our donated clothing drive, provided school materials and toys and recreational equipment. We now share the life situations of the children and their families with the international communities with our photojournalism essays and public talks. Sponsors are now beginning to respond and share from their hearts as well. Grants and support from Vitamin Angels and Julian Lennon's White Feather Foundation are among the most notable.

  I have to share that I am no one of extraordinary intelligence or connections. I have no degree in anything and when I first began this project I did not have a clue as to how to do it. In fact if I had clue money I could not even buy a clue. Everything that was accomplished was a matter of pure relentless passion, total belief in my vision and the ability to ignore distractions regardless of where they came from or by whom. Today, thousands of children, previously living in  unimaginable destitution and despair can see a better future and a healthy life. What if I had given up when it got tough? There was nobody on deck ready to come to the plate if I struck out, to use a baseball analogy.

  What is your vision? What do you want to do to leave a footprint behind after your time is finished on this bright blue orb? Do us all a favor and do not let your dream die inside of you. There will never be a perfect time, right conditions, enough money or the ideal people around you. So what? Do it anyway. The pain of possible failure can not compare to the pain people feel if they never try. When the going gets tough, think back to my story, the impossible dream, come true. The ordinary guy that gave an extraordinary damn, because if I can do it, SO CAN YOU!