We all know how busy life can be, and how easily our days are filled with a thousand little things. Before any journey, time becomes shorter than ever, as you wrap up one life and prepare for the new. Organising a six-month search for one hundred people across the world’s most populous continent, while arranging to have the entire experience shared via stories, photos and film, is an entirely new experience for me.
Over the past weeks, I’ve been juggling all I can: arranging buses, trains, planes, finances. Marinho and I have been busy researching equipment required for the documentary. A Chinese friend Qiuda and I have been finding out what we can from M’s mobile phone number.
Friends around the world have been helping me add more languages to The Human, Earth Project website (which is currently available in fifteen languages, with still more to come). My brother Nick and I have been making the website more robust, ready for the content we’ll be producing.
With the help of an incredibly talented group of musicians drawn from all corners of the world, I’ve begun arranging a soundtrack for the documentary.
On top of all that, I’ve been spending what time I can enjoying my first summer in and around Lake Louise, a wonderful little place in the Canadian Rockies which I’ve been lucky enough to call my home for the past ten months, and which I’ll be leaving in five days.
When I have a moment to breathe, it’s exciting to think what we’re about to begin, and the things we might achieve.
Some days can be wonderfully rewarding, when everything goes according to plan, or when I hear from friends and strangers around the world who are as excited about the project as I am. On other days the whole process can be frustrating, when nothing seems to go my way.
And then there are days when I’m reminded of bigger things, of the life beyond the bounds of this project. Patrice’s father has recently suffered a stroke, and remains in a critical condition in France. Patrice, who was to help Marinho and I film the documentary, will no longer be able to join us in Asia.
The aim of The Human, Earth Project, as you all know, is to help spread awareness of the global issue of human trafficking. When the journey begins, Marinho and I will be searching for the most fascinating stories and images we can find, and we’ll be sharing them with the world for free, to get as much interest as we can in what we’re doing.
Ultimately, though, the success of this project depends on you, and you can help us right now. It takes only the click of a button, and doesn’t cost a thing. Please, take a moment to tell your friends what we’re doing. Show them our website, and get them involved. And we’ll do everything we can to make it worth your while.
Thank you.