It is you who can make a difference!

As some of you know, I am working on my book. The book I am writing is all about focusing on all the beauty that is around us. Working title is "Jij bent de mooie wereld" (you are the beautiful world). There is so much focus in the media on all the bad things that are happening that we sometimes tend to forget there are also a lot of beautiful things in our world. Like the people I have met recently that I have interviewed for my book.

The first person I interviewed is the founder of Africa Unsigned (www.africaunsigned.com), Pim Betist. Pim is passionate about music, and in particular African music. He has set up a great platform for African musicians to get access to an audience they would otherwise not get to, because they just do not have the money. For people in Western countries it is so easy to just use Garageband, go to a studio to record a demo, and upload it to the internet. What if you do not have a computer, no internet access, and no recording studio within reach? Pim makes it possible through a crowdfunding platform. I visited a concert were one of the first artists who had been funded was playing. Amazing!

I also interviewed Rachel ter Horst who works for Artsen zonder Grenzen (Doctors without Borders). She is passionate about helping others who are less fortunate. "How is it possible that there is still such a big gap between what we have in the countries we live in, and countries in for example Africa?". I was really inspired by her passion for doing good.

Today I met with Marianne van Wetter. Marianne, together with her husband Mark Simons, is planning to spend time in Nepal the next few months to work with children without parents in the age group of 14-18. Mark and Marianne want to bring Nepalese inner-city orphans to the Himalayas, to help them think about their dreams, their vision for the future.

In the book I am writing there will be much more detail about the initiatives. But what caught me after these 3 interviews was the feeling that it is up to every individual to make this world a better place. Everyone I have interviewed said it. "I decided to go for it. Not wait for things to happen. Small things can have a big impact!"