TheEyes ofVirunga

"... a forest,

a kingdom underground,

beneath the waves,

or above the sky,

a secret island, lofty mountaintop,

or profound dream state;

but it is always a place of strangely fluid

and polymorphous beings,

unimaginable torments,

super human deeds,

and impossible delight.”

--Joseph Campbell

TheEyes ofVirunga

IF

you’re an intrepid traveler

and a compassionate actor

please join us on a hero’s journey

as we become

a purposeful tribe of eco-activists

discovering the wonders and woes of the Virunga National Park

in the Democratic Republic of Congo

on a transformational journey

that will bring your action to bear there

to share with compassionate actors everywhere.Talking Tigers

TheEyes ofVirunga

JOIN ME!

I will be traveling to the Democratic Republic of Congo early in 2015 for a two to four week scouting trip to find out how we can best invest in the future of the North Kivu District, the region surrounding the Virunga National Park.

Although I heartily invite you to join me, on behalf of those who choose to help but are obliged to stay here at home, I’ll be recording and filming the journey and reporting back to you about how we can become impact investors as American eco-justice activists.

With your virtual trip to this World Heritage Site within the Congo Basin, I’ll make sure that you have as near a first-hand experience as possible, letting my video, audio and graphic journal narrative inform your hands-on search for paying it forward as an impact investor, right here from home!

TheEyes ofVirunga

OUR JOURNEY: UBUNTU“One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu – the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality – Ubuntu – you are known for your generosity.

“We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole World. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.”

–Desmond Tutu

“A traveller through a country would stop at a village and he didn't have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food and attend him.

“That is one aspect of Ubuntu, but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not enrich themselves.

“The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?”

–Nelson Mandela

TheEyes ofVirunga

JOURNEY OBJECTIVES• ECO-ACTIVISM

• Experience and film the Park and its wildlife to appreciate its biodiversity.

• Follow-up and report on the activities of SOCO, the British oil company that is contemplating drilling in the Park.

• Report on the progress and needs of the Google Impact Grant.

• IMPACT INVESTING• Interview Park officials to find how Americans can

best invest in the future of the North Kivu Province.• Report on the progress of the projects highlighted by

The Virunga Alliance.• Investigate the business development potential of a

Rainforest Connection enterprise, placing listening devises in the trees of the Park to pinpoint gunshots and chainsaw activity.

• UBUNTU• Sing with the kids of the communities surrounding the

Park!• Initiate discussions with teachers about the viability

and use of the “Butterfly Hug” a community-based trauma therapy method based on Eye Motion Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).

• Interview M23 militia members to better understand their role as men trying to become purposeful community members.

• Visit and worship in churches and other sacred places.

TheEyes ofVirunga

USHAHIDI | WITNESSDear Fellow Earth Travelers,

We are blessed to live in a world that is interconnected by technology, air travel and the Internet to the point where a whole lot of internationally impactful work can get done as stewards of the Earth from wherever we live.

Indeed, for the first time in the history of humankind, our technological prowess brings knowledge to all of us ‘Earthlings’ about global problems that need our hard work, creative thought, design and action, notably the issues we face with climate change and the protection of critical habitat.

We are blessed with the ability for ordinary citizens of the world like me to become ‘professional amateurs’ using powerful and available technology to produce meaningful narratives that we can share with the world, highlighting pressing needs and appropriate, compassionate action that’s needed to help us do our part to make the world a better place, during our fleeting moments on our endangered planet.

Please join me in our mutual quest to leave the world a little better than we found it as we become The Eyes of Virunga.

With Love,

Morey Bean