I always get uber-excited when I discover something new and useful. A friend of mine who also works at the VOA told me about a local TV and radio channel where people and journalists can volunteer to host their own shows. You get to do the whole nine yards from hosting the show to being the engineer, the reporter and the producer. So watch out for Idil's very own radio show and I'll be able to stream it online so I'll be putting it on my blog!
I've just recorded the material for tomorrow's edition of my Diaspora program and I was speaking to a Somali gentleman who's had polio from the age of 5. He's been on crutches almost all his life but the spirit this man has is equal to none. I was very moved. He runs a small taxi company and still works as a taxi driver. He's worked for various different companies but has never had any diability allowances or thoughts of letting the government take care of him. He runs a disability organisation in Arizona where he tries to gather support for disabled Somalis back in Somalia and get them materials such as weelchairs, crutches etc.
Very inspirational.
This Friday I'll be covering an upcoming Somali youth conference in Virginia, a first of its kind. The youngsters who organised it are trying to rally the Somali youth together to encourage and inspire one another so that they can support each other to deal with any issues they come across. I think it is an admirable effort and I look forward to the event.
On a personal note I had my little nephew stay with me from Seattle over the weekend. He came to attend a dental conference as he aspires to go to dental school. We had a great time exploring the sightseeing sides of DC (I particularly enjoyed the sightseeing since I'm still a tourist!). I managed to catch 'The Ugly Truth ' at the cinema with Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler. Hilarious, absolutely hilarious. Anyone that hasn't seen it yet, I highly recommended.
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