CNN iReport

This interview is with Don Ryder, the recipient of the National Peace Award for 2009. We talked with Don on November 7, 2009, about the Kenya Water Project. Past recipients are Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr, and Pope John Paul II.

To see this project please visit http://www.youtube.com/user/EwuasoKedong.

The villagers of Saikeri, Kenya, are in need of the world’s attention. One man shows how he believed he could make a difference. His name is Don Ryder from Wausau, Wisconsin.

These photos are of the Massai tribe in east Africa. The warriors are showing up to meet in what was later named the “Kenya Water Project” volunteers. What happened then was a face-off. A signal was made that is understood across our universe…a simple smile. Love had arrived and it had no gun strapped to its side.

We all are exceptional in some way. We are all great in special ways. There is something, in each of us, that comes alive when we are experiencing this. It can be as simple as being exceptional at what we do to feed our families and ourselves. A factory worker who spent the day sweating and lifting material knows this feeling at the end of their day. They have pride in looking at the bigger picture of the day’s work. They think about the clothing and food that can be bought, and feels the relief of knowing a family member can now get eyeglasses. They are great to the small son or daughter who is waiting to greet them at home.

What we do, as people, with these gifts will be how we will be remembered. We can see these gifts or we can choose a life which brings pain to others in which case we will be remembered for something representing evil. We see this everyday across the globe.

Don believed in his heart that he could help feed the thirsty in an area of the world which is the village of Saikeri, Kenya. He had been living his life in the middle of North America,…in the middle of another continent. His vision to bring water to the thirsty knew no man-made border. The need is always in the places which most need the world’s compassion. Many can play a role in helping others. I learned from this interview that the Massai tribe are a proud people and accepted this gift of water with honor. They are using it as a hand-up. They now can plant seeds of life. The journey that the women took, walking 15 miles one way, to get water, will be a story which their elders will teach their young in song and dance. These stories will include the risk these women took for this water. Elders learn to protect and listen to the wind for danger. These people build their village, comprised of homes held together with animal dung thereby using again nature. Walls of brush, thorns and wood, are worked together in order to provide protection from nature. That song and dance may someday include the birth of a hospital. These are strong and amazing people.

His Lord, who he shares with us, speaks to him through his wife, and has called him on many different humanitarian acts. He found himself, and his family, in some life and death situations. He worked in America, in some of the darkest moments in peoples’ lives,…not for an award or because he wanted his name before the callings. He lifted each experience up while expressing the need for more to be done. Some bridges have been built, but more are needed. Some wells have been drilled but more are needed.

His love for photography and the people inspired him to take these amazing images. As a writer he has written an award winning book. A book that takes readers on a journey using short written words,….words of hope. What people don't know is that this man also knows what it’s like to ride the wind. During his voyages on his Harley motorcycle he spoke to a higher power. The wind talks to many.

His birthname is Don Ryder. The people from another spot on earth know him as “Lemayian”. The Blessed One.

To see Dons photography, and new friends in Africa, please visit http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-352763

This story could never have been shared without the help from another friend across the world. iReporter.."Yadray” ….. Lawrence Langner. His editing helped share this wonderful story

http://www.ireport.com/people/yadray