The Path Less Traveled Is Sometimes Very Painful

I am going to write a post about something most Execs don't write about.  And I'm going to ask for your help at the same time.

Most organizations don't go public with information like this, but if you follow GeoVisions at all, we really don't fit the mold of "most organizations."

We have a teacher in critical condition in Italy. If you believe in prayer, she could use one.  If you believe in good, positive thoughts, she could use some.  If you believe in positive energy, she needs lots of it.  Please.

The volunteer teacher I'm writing about is 65 years old and she has done an amazing job.  Her community, school and host family just instantly fell in love with her.  She brought many years of teaching experience with her to Italy and a never-ending supply of love for children.  Her enjoyment of the English language was contagious and kids were so excited to get to her class.

Our volunteer teacher became seriously ill, and she is very, very critical.  To the point her family has now come to Italy to her bedside.

The community and school leaders I have spoken to do not have enough words to describe this teacher.  She went to Italy with the intention of making a difference in the community where she was to teach.  Her students love her and her host family goes to the hospital each day, hoping to see her.  But so far they have not been able to go to her room.  She is that ill.

We heard that "people in the community had to ask her 100 times what she needed, before our teacher would ever ask for anything for herself.  She never wanted to worry or bother others, or intrude in their lives."

I will one day write a post about making sure the organization you go with has the very best insurance to cover these things, and getting family to the bedside and intensive care.  But this is not the time for that.

These are tough days here in our offices.  But not nearly so as it is in a small hospital room in Italy.  And we cannot forget that there are students in a small school who miss their visiting teacher.  A host family that doesn't understand.  I'm writing about an amazing woman who left her family in the U.S. for a rural community in eastern Italy, to simply do good work.

I've been doing this amazing work for 38 years.  I, too, was a teacher in a rural school and community.  I know how attached you can get to students and their parents and the community in general.  We do this work because it is a celebration of life and cultures.  A celebration of a common passion, driven by unequaled core values.  Those of us who do this for a living, and our teachers and volunteers choose to take "the path less traveled."

Take just a minute, please?