Marion Donovan's Diaper Quest

I love facts! Give me a statistic or little known bit of information any day. My friend Michael gave me one of those 1,001 fact books as my college graduation present and I still cherish that book. So of course my iGoogle homepage has a Useless Knowledge box that gives a new fact every time it reloads. This one I found inspirational and maybe you will too:

With the use of a sewing machine and a shower curtain Marion Donovan succeeded in developing what is considered the first waterproof diaper cover in 1946. Mrs. Donovan was surprised when her prototype for disposable paper diapers was met with ridicule. She journeyed to all the major U.S. paper companies, and was laughed at for proposing such an "unnecessary and impractical" item to replace cotton diapers. After nearly 10 years of pitching her revolutionary idea, Victor Mills had the foresight to capitalize on it, and he became the creator of Pampers.

This woman spent 10 years trying to get someone to believe in her invention! She believed in herself and the potential of her product and pursued her dream with passion. I love that...living with passion!

Walking Into Danger

There truth about the world we live in is that danger is everywhere. Many people express their disbelief about we single women who travel, work and live abroad and the dangers and risks we face being international. The truth is there are dangers everywhere and I often point this out in my defense of living abroad and working in post-war, developing countries. Yet every once in awhile I have to acknowledge when dangerous situations arise and when my being a foreigner is a disadvantage.

My trip to San Marcos La Laguna included one of these moments. Myself and a friend decided to walk to a neighboring village for the day. The walk was about 3 hours and the weather was wonderful. We walked around San Juan, ate lunch and started back on the road to San Marcos. As we reached the edge of town we passed two women carrying a large bundle of wood on their heads. I stopped to ask them about their load and when we finished chatting they suggested we take a tuk tuk the rest of the way. We asked why and they said the road was dangerous.

A man walking the same direction as us agreed with the women and offered to walk with us since he had a matcheti. This made me more nervous but we agreed to walk with him until a tuk tuk passed. As we walked he explained that groups of thieving boys would watch the main street to see when foreigners would leave. They would then run along the mountainside and intercept the travelers on the road to rob them. Eventually a tuk tuk passed and we were able to take it the rest of the way. But it made me realize how vulnerable I was as an outsider and how open for danger I really was. Sometimes a small reminder is helpful and kindness from strangers is always welcome.