On Thursday September 19,2019 I was interviewed by Rebecca Hall Gruyter for her radio show, on VoiceAmerica.com. The theme was Empowering Women Transforming Lives. I discussed why I believe traveling is important. I discussed how travel brings people together who come from different countries, religions and ethnicities.  Traveling allows visitors and residents to observe and hopefully talk to each other. By talking, and maybe sharing a meal or observing a class or other activity, the visitor comes away with a better understanding of what we all have in common.

When people don’t see or visit with “the other,” they often focus on the negative. My son was in Egypt on 9/11. I couldn’t get in touch with him until he finally emailed me the next day. After assuring me he was okay, he expressed sorrow and disbelief of the attacks. Then he said he was humbled and overwhelmed by the outpouring of condolences and sympathy from strangers. Egyptians, Moroccos, Bedouins, Sudanese, Westerners and people of every nationality where approaching him when they learned he was American. My son already knew that Muslims weren’t all soulless killers like those who massacred thousands on 9/11. But he’ll forever remember that outpouring of sympathy from a mostly Muslim community.

My co-guest on the show, Jon Kaufmann, spoke about his company H2OpenDoors. It provides clean drinking water for communities around the world. I hope you’ll turn in and listen to the replay. Below is the link to the interview:

https://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/117405/finding-balance-along-the-way