Tom Costanza's Blog (9)

Thought I'd re-post a blog I wrote for the World Vision site.

http://blog.worldvision.org/stories/rwandan-genocide-anniversary-a-thursday-at-the-pool-in-kigali/

“About a thousand people crowded about the pool that Sunday…their voices in chorus filled the air.  Their hymns rose like great flights of birds above the belt of eucalyptus trees around the hotel and hovered over the neighboring hills.”

-       A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali –

Today is Valentine’s Day.  I spent mine by a pool in Rwanda.  The same pool mentioned in the passage…

Today is World Malaria Day.  That got me to thinking.  A few years ago I traveled to Mozambique for World Vision to gather stories of lives that have been deeply affected by malaria.  It wasn’t hard to find people that have had malaria there.  They're everywhere, including among our staff.  In some countries there is a “malaria season.”  That’s the rainy season when mosquitoes breed in puddles of standing water.  In Mozambique, malaria is a year-round health threat.  But Mozambique isn’t…

I wrote this a while back but just got around to posting it.  I think it felt a little too personal.  Anyway, here it is.

You Can't Hold a Book in One Hand and a Spear in the Other

by Tom Costanza on Tuesday, July 19, 2011 at 5:16pm

There have been years when my kids have loved school. Other years - not so much. At the risk of sounding like a grouchy old man, most kids in the US really have no idea how lucky they are. In many of the places I visit, the opportunity to go to school is a…