Welcome back to Aurai Online
This space was the start of a travel blog, back in 2017, which then grew into the podcast that became People Helping People. While the podcast is still in full swing, I’m relaunching this blog to share stories of social good from around the world. I want a place that captures some of the fascinating insights from how they’re tackling sustainability in China, social entrepreneurship in India, microlending in Kenya, poverty reduction in Guatemala, and transforming education in Brazil. There are good things happening all around the world, and we need to share these ideas with the hope that they inspire change at home, wherever home is for you.
World of Social Good: an Episode on Sustainability
This struck home for me in a recent podcast with Rich Brubaker of Collective Responsibility, when he shared that China was so far ahead of the US and Europe when it comes to sustainability and that no one in the west even realizes how far behind they are. It’s not because the west is lazy, it’s because China had to adapt fast to survive given their conditions and population. China has systems in place to move fast and create massive change, only because of necessity.
But there is so much packed into that story that others can use to learn and grow, and so as a planet we can thrive in new, unimaginable ways.
A Course on Creativity
At the same time, I’m a coach for the Rao Institute, and it’s course on Creativity & Personal Mastery. I took this course when Dr. Rao offered it at the London Business School, back in 2005, and was his teaching assistant for many years. Last year, during the pandemic, I returned as a coach to the online program. It reminded me of my own journey of uncovering a more meaningful way to connect with individuals and create a better world, and partly a spiritual path and dropping away many of the unproductive stories that we tell that hold ourselves back.
The program is very international; and there is something exciting about going through a program with 20 participants from around the globe from a variety of cultural backgrounds. The culture may be unique, but the conditions at the root of ourselves are remarkably similar. There is so much to learn from our peers around the globe about who we are, and what situations we have chosen in our life.
From that vantage point, I am relaunching this blog to bring those insights together, from both personal vantage point and a broader social impact. So, together, we can rise up and become something even more fulfilling.