The One and Only

This young girl and the children around her all live by the river and are playing together in street. The look in her eyes and on her face is no accident, she really does know something about life that the rest of us are still trying to figure out. Let’s hope she grows up with strength enough to guide us all one day.

At the edge of the factory district in the city of Gaziantep, this man, and dozens like him, have all set up table-top shops that line the sidewalk. They come here every weekend to sell their personal collection of hidden treasures in hope of turning a profit. For this man, everything on the table is about a dollar, give or take a Türk Lira. Except for the lemons. The lemons are for lunch.

Over the past decade, many Ethiopians have been leaving their villages and small countryside towns for the nation’s growing capital, Addis Ababa. It’s become a modern-day city of wealth and prosperity in a land of otherwise persistent poverty. But for this man, the tradeoff is too great. He lives here, in the small town of Durame. It rests peacefully at the western edge of the Rift Valley where nothing much happens and the world doesn’t come to visit. There’s a small outdoor market and a single main street that heads out of town sooner than you expect. It’s the quiet life he’s grown to love and the home he’ll never let go.

This man runs the most important business on Recto Avenue in metro Manila. He designs, manufactures and engraves awards. But these are not just any awards, they’re the ones with your name on them. The awards for all the recognition you believe you deserve. The awards no one else will give you.

If anyone among us is better suited to balance these scales of justice, speak now.

This man works at the docks by the river, loading small boats with cargo for transport to neighbouring villages. He doesn’t carry as much of the load as he used to, but he still pulls his weight. The younger men that work here all treat him with respect, like for a father who raised them, or an older brother who paved the way for them.

This young man goes to Islamic school. Along with an academic education and studying Arabic, he is also learning to be a good Muslim, which means he’s learning to be a good person, respectful and forgiving; to be sincere and live with humility; and to always be truthful to others and to oneself.

On this day, after school, something was troubling him. It didn’t go away when we gathered for photographs or when we walked together through the village streets. Whatever it was he just couldn’t shake it. He seemed so disappointed, in something or someone, or maybe in himself. – Being a good Muslim can sometimes be a tall order for a young man. Especially for an honest, sincere, determined young man.

In the north-western Laos, the city of Luang Namtha is just 60 kilometres from the southern border of China. There is now and always has been a large ethnic Chinese population in the city and surrounding mountains. Parents of young children, not wanting them to lose their heritage or miss out on new opportunities, send their kids to this Laotian-Chinese school where the two nations’ flags are displayed right in front, and where this man is always here, keeping everything running on time.

In the far north of Chile, near the borders of Peru and Bolivia, the small, isolated village of Putre rests high in the Andes near the foot of the Taapaca Volcano. Though the Chilean government is working hard to transform the village into a base station for exploring the Lauca National Park, Putre has historically been home to a small indigenous population dedicated to high-altitude pastural living.

This man is happy to see the village around him grow and prosper, and even though the drying climate in northern Chile makes pastural living harder than it has ever been, he chooses to live the life his parents nurtured for him, and their parents before them.

The fishermen in Batangas never stop working. They’re either out on the waters of Batangas Bay setting out or reeling in their nets, or they’re at home repairing them for the next day of fishing. This man and all the other fishermen here have been at it since they were young boys. They love this life.