Here you will read my biography, published in 6 languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Japanese (in Romani) and, finally, in Russian. It is a complete biography of 17 chapters that vividly describes my life experiences, from my childhood to my education and work experience, starting in Vietnam during the war and ending in the Philippines, when I retired from Sudan in 1994.
It has been a long road, full of challenges and achievements. They will read about the dangers I faced in Vietnam, where the war broke out, and in Haiti, where I had to live through the violent revolution. Other countries where I lived and worked, such as Burundi and the Philippines, also suffered very violent revolutions that had a great impact on me and my family.
My biography will take you through my experiences in all the countries where I lived, worked and studied, such as the United States and, later, the Philippines.
I faced many challenges in India and other countries, but somehow I managed to overcome them and get my wife and children out of there so that we could all live a better, safe and peaceful life in the Philippines, where I retired and raised my family. Our two children were educated here and then moved to other countries such as the United States and Australia.
Finally, I must acknowledge the extraordinary effort made by our daughter Kim to make the biography suitable for publication on Amazon. He has spent countless days and nights formatting every chapter to make it acceptable for Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP).
I am very grateful to you for your contribution to the publication of my biography as an e-book. We really appreciate her and her helpful nature.
Amazon will create e-books for you, no matter where you live in the world.
The reason for my biography
It’s very tempting to write something to share with everyone online, because it seems like the whole world is connected these days. Even so, I feel that it is an overwhelming task given the enormous responsibility that comes with writing and opening my soul to unknown people who I will never meet, but who might read what I write and form their own opinions.
But I also feel that I must do it, even if it’s just to say that I do it for our children, who have the right to know their parents better. I wish my father had done the same, because I know practically nothing about him, except that he was a very intelligent and peaceful person. I also don’t know anything about my mother, except that she was a loving mother who sacrificed a lot to raise us all. I think we all owe it to our children to understand us better and perhaps learn from our mistakes and successes.
So one day I started writing. This is not just a biography, but a look at the complex relationships that develop over time between the people in our lives and the consequences of those relationships. It is true that I have gone through difficult times and I have met very bad people who have disappointed me enormously, but I have also met wonderful people in different countries who are still my friends after all these years.
So the path of life has been very exciting for me, because I was lucky to live it the way I did and I learned many lessons. I have written extensively about these experiences, some good and some bad, but equally interesting. I have mentioned the good people in detail and the bad ones only in passing, because it is better to remember the good ones who cheer you up than the ones who disappoint you. My opinions are mine, but I understand that others may have different opinions. If my opinions offend those who disagree, I must say that my story was not intended to be so and should be read with an open mind, free of prejudice.
I thank all those who have helped me during my long journey through life, but above all I thank my parents, who raised me, gave me an adequate education and taught me values that last and have been very useful to me.
Finally, I will say that without Jasmine by my side, this trip would have been less colorful and exciting. She is extraordinary and I am very grateful to her. Our dear children are our blessing and joy, and have made this biography worth writing.
Buddhas thoughts Do not dwell in the past Do not dream of the future Concentrate the mind on the present moment Better than a thousand words is one word that brings peace. The mind is everything. What you think, you become. To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as ones own…
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People always talk about heaven and hell but most pay only lip service to the words when mentioned by the religionists. I think one should try to understand what it really means and how one can make a heaven or hell for himself right here in this world. Long before the advent of…
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The Green revolution in rice that came about due to the efforts of many scientists at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines was a boon to farmers everywhere because they were able to triple their production with the new varieties and many countries became self-sufficient in rice which is their major…
The so-called brain drain from the poorer countries to richer countries is a process that has been going on for a long time because people with brains and aspirations seek better opportunities elsewhere other than their own country . There is nothing wrong in seeking opportunities if that is the only way anyone can…
Corruption is a global phenomenon that is destroying many economies. Some people steal public money to get rich but pay no consequence because of their political connections so their countries suffer. Many governments have tried and failed to curb corruption because it has become a part of their system that allows corruption to flourish.…
Most people in this world live a mundane life and die of old age but only a lucky few die in their sleep with a smile on their face because they had lived a full life fulfilling all their duties and obligations. They are called the true independent souls. I explain how anyone…
Stanza from Geeta Transmigration of our souls does take place in the mind of the believers of Geeta where Krishna gave advice to Arjuna in the battlefield of Kurukshetra but we now look for the evidence of the transmigration. This asks some serious questions about the soul and prods the minds of the curious…
The courage to overcome challenges of life by taking actions through hard work and sacrifice determines who writes his own destiny. I will give you some examples of such people. The title of this post may be misleading unless I complete the sentence here to understand the full meaning of it. To understand…
We all have experienced it while we were students . Some teachers were excellent who cared for their students and enjoyed teaching while helping students overcome their difficulties in some subjects like math while there were other teachers who were not so good . We always remember good teachers and forget the ones who…
People who do not travel or do so very infrequently always want to live in their own comfort zone that is hard to find elsewhere. Such people have a difficult time overcoming the cultural barrier but it need not be so. One can learn a great deal from others and practice the good values…
Khudiram Bose was the youngest revolutionary from Bengal who decided early in his life to fight the injustice done by the British on Indians. Young Bose observed how the troops and other British people maltreated the Indians without provocations and with total impunity. In 1906, when Khudiram was engaged in distributing a revolutionary…
There are people who are homeless who sleep on the sidewalks of major cities in the world. They shiver in the cold and get wet whenever it rains so they do not have any protection from the elements. People in cars pass by but just ignore them because it is not their problem.…
The fashion especially Western fashion keeps changing from time to time and spreads worldwide so we see young and old people blindly following the trend whether it is good or bad. Mostly the bad fashion as shown in the blog below has an attraction among the young people who follow it just to show that…
Normally I do not care to write about what legacy I would like to leave behind that people will appreciate because it draws focus on what I have achieved or what I failed to achieve in life. To tell everybody what I have achieved sounds like bragging, so it is against my way…
We all get old someday. Here I look at many issues that old people face and try to cope with. Here I show how to overcome old age problems in a pragmatic way and what the young people need to learn about respect. I remember a movie I saw in The United States…
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Nurturing the talent of a child by the parents is very important that helps the child reach their full potential even under adversity. I treat this subject with ways to provide the right environment for the child to grow and reach their potential. A very beautiful nine-year old girl from Holland called Amira Willighagen…
It is heart wrenching to watch poor people taken advantage of by the doctors and hospitals that demand a high cost for the medical care they provide and often do not accept government sponsored insurance programs so demand cash. Their inhumanity in insisting on monetary gains over care and concern for their patients…