Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Why this is worth the time


Headed out early for full day today again with Manish. I arrived at his University and sat on a bench outside to wait for him. A group of young female students were sitting opposite of me talking in Bangla. I had a feeling they were probably talking about me…bc well….if I saw that kinda freak randomly at my University….I would talk about it too. Sort of like if a circus clown.. sits down and starts typing on his cell phone…and there is no circus in town….you just know…something is …..wrong. Eventually curiosity killed the cat (and really…what in the world does that phrase mean…why did it kill the cat? ….why didn’t it just overcome the cat? Or bother the cat?) …anyway, they started to ask what I was doing. Before I knew it there was a small crowd of students from this conservation program. I was telling them about the reason behind the film and what I wanted to do with it. That the story had really become about them. The future of conservation biology in this region of Asia. They all stopped and then simultaneously clapped. It took me totally off guard and by surprise. And I almost started to cry. It was really my first feedback. And granted…it was positive probably partly because I was commending them and their efforts. But I think also…that they GOT IT! They immediately understood the message and what I wanted to convey with it. So I clapped for them.

Students of Khulna University, Bangladesh (Photo: JLewis)



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