Photo Adventures with Ed

Connecting with First Descents

FD Climbing Group September 14th, 2011

I often get asked how I ended up here.

“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one …. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. “ – George Bernard Shaw

I hope I end up being used for a purpose by allowing events and connections to lead me. Like sailing a ship in a storm, I try to go with the winds and direct the ship towards where I want to go. It is rarely in what appears to be a straight line. Allowing the wind and currents to led me has allowed make the most amazing connections. Take my recent photo shoot at First Descents for example. Back in 2008 I did a photo shoot for the AngelRide. One of the riders bought a print off me and I noticed that she lived in my home town. Seizing the opportunity to thank her and learn about this crazy coincidence, I hand delivered it. You see my home town is a bit off the path for the typical AngelRider. Turns out the young lady was a former camper at the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, which the AngelRide benefits. When I mentioned to her what I did I thanked her for giving my photo meaning. She noted it and we kept in touch from time to time on facebook and other things. Last year she ended up at First Descents as a camper and told them about me. She sailed from the the Hole in Wall Gang Camp, to Camp supporter through the AngelRide to being a Camper at First Descents. Because I took the time to meet and thank her, the winds ended up blowing me to First Descents.

Now’s where it gets crazy. At First Descents I meet a volunteer called Cowboy. Cowboy was looking for an opportunity to make a difference teaching in Africa. I hooked up Cowboy with some Masai friends of mine in Kenya. With a week of the camp, Cowboy left for Africa. Not only will he be volunteering at a developing school in a remote part of Africa, he will be joining me in a week in South Africa helping two developing Hole in the Wall Gang Camps,  Just Footprints and Camp ‘Mamohato.

So now the tides and winds have brought us almost full circle just a little ways off from the AngelRide. We’ll be starting the trip volunteering and helping in Africa at two developing Hole in the Wall Gang Camps. We won’t be riding bikes this time, we”ll be riding motorcycles through the mountains of Lesotho. Different continent, different events, same community. Putting smiles on the faces of cancer survivors and children with life threatening disease.

I hope I’m allowing the community to blow me hither and thither in my efforts to help the children. It seems no matter where I go, great people come up to me and help on my quest. … as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.

Here are some images from the camp. As many images as there are, there are even more stories and more winds blowing in great directions thanks to the courage and strength of these people. People that I am proud to serve in whatever way I can.

Here is the DVD video collection from the celebration at the end of the week. You can also take a look at the FD image gallery.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 26th, 2011 at 1:46 pm. It is filed under Western United States, blog and tagged with Camp, Charity, climbing, Event, First Descents, hiking, mountain, photo, photography, Photos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.