#HarryEdmonds – Page 2 – 100,000 Grains of Sand

International Friendship

24/12/201824/12/2018Tagged #Educationwithakick, #grainsofsand, #grainsofsand19, #HarryEdmonds, #I-House, #internationalfriendship, #internationalhouse, #internationalunderstanding, #LeadersQuest, #OSCARFoundationLeave a comment

As Christmas approaches here in the UK, I have been thinking of the International Friendship part of my aim for my trip. Whilst my life has not been quite as international as some of the I-Housers I have already met, I have been very fortunate to have worked and lived in a number of different parts of the world.

My trip is an opportunity to connect with new I-House international friends, but is also allowing me to meet up with old friends too. I love my friends here in the UK, but there is something really special about meeting up with friends in other countries, it nearly always involves new experiences. By reaching out and catching up with friends on my travels I can honestly say I have had some of the most enriching times of my life and I hope have bought something to their lives too.

About three years ago I went on a trip to China with an organisation called Leaders Quest who create amazing leadership quests for NGO and business participants and I met Ashok Rathod, founder of Oscar Foundation http://www.oscar-foundation.org in Mumbai India. They work with children from slum communities changing lives through football and education. Three years on this encounter has bought me so many new things and friendships, as I am a trustee of the UK side of the charity. The feet in the picture are kids from our Jharkhand project.

My Christmas request for anyone taking the time to read this is to remember your I-House friends and to reach out and say hello to them and whenever you are travelling and have a spare evening, breakfast or lunch slot, why not spend it with someone you have not seen for a while and ‘pass the light on’.

Wishing you a happy and peaceful Christmas.

Preparing for a Personal Pilgrimage

16/12/201816/12/2018Tagged #grainsofsand19, #HarryEdmonds, #I-House, #internationalhouse, #internationalunderstanding, #personalpilgrimageLeave a comment

With days rather than weeks before the my 100,000 Grains of Sand world tour starts I have been reflecting on the last 6 months of preparation and what I have taken from the process.

When I started planning in earnest I had no idea what the reaction to my story and plans would be. Happily it became apparent that such is the depth of imprint of time spent living in the House that my reaching out as a complete stranger to members of the community received encouraging responses back. As I started my Facebook page and gradually I moved from 10 connections to 50 then 100, I began to believe that I would find alumni to meet in each country.

As I searched for connections, I was also drawn further into the history around the different Houses and the people who have worked at the Houses over the years. This led me to reflect on how an institution like an I-House continues beyond its creation and is still thriving, in the case of the NYC House, nearly 100 years later. It is down to every resident, every person who has worked there, every donor, every trustee of the Houses that ensures Harry and Mr. Rockefeller’s vision continues. It seems to me that it is always a fine balance between staying relevant to the current age and holding true to the founding principles. The trick I believe is to really identify the essence of what makes I-House life so special and protect that. I hope to learn more about this as I meet people around the globe.

I have also spent time thinking about my motivation behind taking on this project. I know that I saw a window of opportunity that my children leaving home for school and university gave me and was in need of a project to help me transition to this new phase of parenthood. It was also about the sheer curiosity of seeing what is possible if I decided to do something and committed myself to it. More recently I have found that the idea of a personal pilgrimage has come to mind. A pilgrimage with its purpose being as a homage to Harry and Florence, my great-grandparents, and also as a quest to both understand and pass on the light of tolerance, understanding and international friendship.

The Chinese Student

09/12/2018Tagged #Colombiauniversity, #grainsofsand19, #HarryEdmonds, #I-House, #internationalhouse, #passthelighton, Boxerrebellion2 Comments

A few weeks ago I joined the Friends of I-House UK at their I-House London meet up and was lucky enough to meet Ping Shum an alumni of the NYC house who said to me that he thought we could find out more about the Chinese student who Harry met on the steps of Low Memorial Library that frosty September morning in 1909. I was intrigued and was excited when an email came through from Ping that showed that only 47 Chinese students came to the USA in 1909 (pictured here before they left China) via the Boxer Rebellion Indemnity Scholarship program and of those no more than 10 graduated from Columbia University and in fact there were probably only 4 or 5 that started there in 1909.

With the help of the Columbia Archivist and Ping, we are still on the trail of who the student might have been but we probably will never know exactly unless he told his family of the encounter with Harry, which is unlikely.

It did however bring a whole new perspective to the ‘lonely Chinese student’ story. As whilst there would have been many Chinese people in New York at the time that there were so few Chinese students and made me think, like Harry did, about how we do or don’t welcome others to our country.

As I set off on my trip and for the most part am going to be meeting with strangers, I hold the thought that the strangers I am meeting have all had a common experience at an International House, which has made them more open and curious about others as a fellow human being. I know I will be welcomed.

In 1985 Gerald Ford spoke at I-House and said “Remember your convictions, respect the convictions of others. Have faith in the decency of others. Make the whole planet as full of friendship as this room is tonight.” (p106 Berkeley memoirs). I am looking forward to exploring the planet of friendship….

Four weeks to go…

01/12/201809/12/2018Tagged #grainsofsand19, #HarryEdmonds, #I-House, #internationalhouse, #internationalunderstanding, #passthelighton, #worldtour2 Comments

With just four weeks to go I am focused on setting up a web site so I can record my final preparations and my travels.

Being new to blogging this is proving somewhat time consuming but I am sure I will get the hang of it.

Today has been about searching for new ways to connect with alumni as well as going back through my collection of Harry memorabilia to see what I have forgotten.

This turns up quite a detailed article about the first 5 or so stops on Harry’s tour, which talk about the press and publicity around his arrival in each country. I don’t think I will manage to draw quite such a crowd.

Even without social media Harry managed to meet with over 1000 alumni on his trip.

I am enjoying the unlocking new connections and am now getting excited about meeting some of the wonderful people who have embraced my project and are taking the time to help me organise an event or connect me to other alumni.