Heading to the Upper East Side for the comfort of a home-cooked meal turned out to be an adventure that I never planned on happening. On this long Columbus Day weekend, coupled with the fact that the weather was near perfect, created a gridlock of drivers looking for the same parking spot that I was hoping to find. For two hours I drove a 9 block area of the crowded Upper East Side looking for an overnight spot to park The Kindness Bus. It became apparent, about a half hour into my search, that this was going to take a long time. That is when the feeling hit me, someone needs to see The Kindness Bus tonight. For the next hour and a half, I tried to get as much exposure as I possibly could, actually looking forward to getting stopped at red lights. Thousands of people saw the bus during my joy ride, and then it happened, almost magically, a parking spot big enough for The Kindness Bus appeared, which I pulled into in a manner which would have made a New York cabbie nod with approval. A serendipitous step from the bus validated my earlier belief and landed Bogart and me in front of Gina, a local television director; she was the reason we were driving the bus in circles for two hours, I’m convinced of it. “I’m shooting a documentary for 10/10/10 and I’d like to feature One Million Acts Of Kindness,” she said. The project, One Day on Earth, is a worldwide effort to document the diversity of humanity and all of the beauty we have to offer one another. I, of course, agreed to be featured in her film, which we started shooting on Sunday. Her project can be followed at onedayonearth.org.
We spent the morning working on interviews and thoroughly shooting every angle of the bus. The afternoon brought a drive to Westchester to the home of Clare, a caring woman who’s passion is helping start-up causes grow to reach the potential they never thought possible. Clare was hosting a group of fascinating people, to learn of the plight of girls in Pakistan struggling to get an education while the Taliban does everything in their power to dash their hopes.
Where the Taliban is tearing down, Lia-ud-Din Yousufzai is working in the other direction, Working hard to keep his school open. The Taliban doesn’t want girls to have an education and actively bombs school buildings. Lia-ud is visiting the United States at the invitation of the State Department. His passion was obvious, as he talked of the girls excitement to get an education. He is making a difference in hundreds of girls lives in Pakistan.
I’m a friend of Gina (she told me about this article). She was inspired by your journey of kindness, as am I. Thank you for everything you’re doing.