Thanks to the generosity of a few VisionForce friends, I have just arrived safely in Uganda, where I was welcomed by long-time VisionForce ally, Clovis Ategeka! After a 12-hour bus ride from Kenya followed by a 3-hour drive into the countryside, I arrived at Ave Maria, the secondary school of 600 students, where Clovis is now Dean of Students.
As you can see in the video below, I did not believe that the students had gathered on the road to welcome me!
HELP US MAKE A MIRACLE!
Only about 50% of university graduates find jobs here. To have a chance in the job market these days, these students need computer skills, but 600 students must share only 3 computers!
You may remember some of the miracles Clovis created through the years with the help of VisionForce.
I have come at Clovis’ invitation to show the students and faculty how much is possible with vision, entrepreneurial thinking and internet technology, and I need your help!
Let’s help him create another miracles, and show these 600 students what is possible. We want to raise $460 in less than 48 hours! This will buy his school:
– 1 new computer ($340)
– 1 modem ($30)
– 1 month of internet access ($30)
– A 500 GB external hard drive ($60)
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$460
More importantly, it will infuse an entrepreneurial spirit here at the school and launch their budding computer center and entrepreneurship programs!
ANY amount helps – $2, $5, $25 or more! Just send your contribution via www.PayPal.com to michael@michaelskye.com
ALL donors will receive some special videos and photos from the 600 students!
UPDATE: We’ve now received enough for THREE computers, thus DOUBLING the size of the budding computer center here! It’s not too late to send your contribution… THANK YOU in advance!
I recorded this last week at of the key stops on our VisionForce Safari is Morris Thuku’s home and school in Elburgon, Kenya.
Watch this beautiful welcome we were given, and allow yourself to RECEIVE it fully.
FEEL your WELCOME to this world, to LIFE, to Africa, to Kenya, to your heart!
Have you ever received such a beautiful welcome? Tell me about it in the comments below…
Sharing a slice of my life with you in advance of our upcoming VisionForce Safari!
5:30am
Wake with dreams of a new book: “Stand vs Position” (insights flowing after workshop for South Sudanese peace activists in Nairobi last week).
They keep coming so I get out of bed, grab my laptop and get back under the covers (it’s chilly here at night).
6:00am
I want to run for the first time since arriving here, but 2nd day w/no water in this apartment which means no shower, so I pass on the run.
I lay dreaming of the upcoming safari…
7:33am
Receive a text from Farah, she’s got a “Plan B” for a better apartment for me.
8:03am
Call Dennis, my Kenyan motorcycle taxi driver. He says he’ll be here in 7 minutes. Without water for a shower and such, 7 minutes is all I need to get out of the house.
Dress, pack for the day (include toothbrush), head down to meet Dennis, take in the view of the lake and the clouds from above.
8:13am
Greet Dennis and his huge African smile. Jump on the motorbike and tell him “OK cowboy, let’s get this horse moving.” “What horse?” he asks. It takes a while to explain.
We ride through the brisk morning air, passing hundreds of Kenyans walking to work or the market on our way into town, as we talk about a problem he had with some Mzungu customers.
I advise him to stand for being paid for his time waiting–love empowering budding entrepreneurs.
8:22am
Arrive at the one cafe with decent wifi and order the usual: Denver omelette and a triple Americano, hot milk on the side.
Tease the waitress who was upset yesterday morning when she had to work instead of attend church. Church here is the highlight of the week for man time for celebration unlike many where I come from could imagine.
Go to bathroom to use their water and brush my teeth finally.
8:45am
Type this update as my food arrives.
9:30am
Meet an Australian woman who runs a large orphanage and a lodge nearby. Am OVERJOYED to learn that she has taken in the kids from the orphanage we visited 4 years ago, since closed.
There was a little girl named Ruthie there, who I just fell in love with. You can see me holding her in this video:
WILL YOU JOIN US?
As of this writing, we still have some room available for YOU!
Standing with you and for you,
Michael Skye
VisionForce.com
PS. I will leave you with the potent and wise words of Scottish Mountain Climber and Adventurer, W. H. Murray speaking of launching into one of his great voyages:
“We had definitely committed ourselves and were halfway out of our ruts. We had put down our passage money – booked a sailing to Bombay. This may sound too simple, but is great in consequence. Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. I learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets:
“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!”
11:15am – Streets of Nakuru, Kenya
“I’m going to Nairobi to facilitate a workshop,” I yell over the wind. I explain to my friendly motorcycle taxi driver, Dennis, that I’ll be back in 2 days.
I hadn’t been in the country 24 hours when I’d been invited to co-facilitate a 2-Day workshop for SouthSudanese peace activists.
I’d said, ”Yes” without hesitation, because I know this is the kind of work I’m here (on the planet) to do.
12:15pm – Downtown Nakuru
“Seat number one,” I hear as a hand on my back pushes me towards the front seat of this dirty old taxi van called a matatu.
I take my seat opposite the driver and roll up the window a bit. Don’t need anyone snagging my laptop.
I take a deep breath preparing for a harrowing journey dodging potholes and on coming vehicles.
4:30pm – Downtown Nairobi
I feel all eyes on me as I pass through a sea of Kenyans. I’m a ”Mzungu,” or white traveler. I’ve got my big pack strapped to my back and my smaller one to my chest.
“Yaya. Where can I get a bus to Yaya,” I ask a random guy on the corner. He points me in one direction and as I thank him another man puts his hand on my back and turns me in the other direction.
As I follow the second man, I put my hand in my pocket to fish for a tip. I want to have it ready beforehand, so he and others don’t see me pull out a wad of larger bills.
5:15pm – Bus to Yaya
“You are banished from this house for three days!” comes the booming voice amidst sounds of an argument and a scuffle.
Kenya has suffered another act of terrorism, and the entire bus is listening closely to the rhetoric from the politicians on the radio at full volume.
“Mr. Speaker,” comes another voice in Kenyan accent. ”I rise firstly to condemn these acts of violence, and to offer my condolences to the victims and their families.”
I’m feeling glad that the bus has taken off, and surprised that I have learned so much peace and patience from traveling for the last four years–and that I’ve learned not to use the news media as a barometer for actual danger.
9:30pm – Bedroom
I finish a Skype call to an African American man around eighty years of age who has wanted to come to Africa all his life. I learn he’s booked his ticket and made his payment for our upcoming Safari!
I’m resting in my cozy bed provided by Robyn, who I first went with to Kenya in 2006, and her Kenyan partner, Irungu.
There’s a knock on my door. It’s Irungu. He was instrumental in bringing about peace in 2007 when Kenya was facing political turmoil and acts of genocide.
It’s time to prepare tomorrow’s agenda. It will be Day 1 of a two-day workshop for South Sudanese peace activists whose people are now facing civil war and genocide all over again.
I’m feeling excited, and inspired to learn from a man whose life has been spent in NGO sector and community organizing.
11:00pm – Kitchen Table
We’re still working on the agenda. We’ve never facilitated together, and we’re inventing this workshop last minute.
I ask him to trust me when it comes time for me to facilitate the conversations and exercises about Stand vs Position.
I’m feeling grateful for this opportunity and committed to serve the activists and this man who will lead the workshop.
I’m not used to being an assistant, and know it will be good for me.
8:00am – Conference Room
I pour a cup of coffee as the workshop is about to start. I’ve never faced what these people are facing. Will they accept me and what I offer them?
I’m feeling nervous and excited. I breathe deeply and remember Who they are for me, and Who I am for them.
8:45am – Conference Room
I’d suggested Irungu have people introduce themselves by saying who the people are that they’re most concerned for, and what they are standing for.
I know it will start us off with a heartfelt context of honor, but I’m not prepared for how it will impact me personally.
“The people I am most concerned about are the children, my family and all the people of SouthSudan,” says the South Sudanese man to my right. “I AM COMMITTED TO ENDING THE WAR.”
BOOM! I am hit in the chest with this feeling I call Honor. Just then it hits me… WHAT AM I COMMITTED TO? I’ve been traveling the world for four years, enjoying a life relatively free from commitment.
I realize there are two groups of people who I am most concerned for: my immediate family, and those who are standing for others.
When it comes around to me, I express this, and then I share how I am committed to ending the Wars that take place inside
of ourselves and inside of our families, and that I am committed to standing for the people here in this room.
=======
This was a very exciting day in my life… My books are coming along, and the safari is approaching…
JUNE 17th,
11:15am – Streets of Nakuru, Kenya
“I’m going to Nairobi to facilitate a workshop,” I yell over the wind. I explain to my friendly motorcycle taxi driver, Dennis, that I’ll be back in 2 days.
12:15pm – Downtown Nakuru
“Seat number one,” I hear as a hand on my back pushes me towards the front seat of this dirty old taxi van called a matatu.
I take my seat opposite the driver and roll up the window a bit. Don’t need anyone snagging my laptop.
I take a deep breath preparing for a harrowing journey dodging potholes and on coming vehicles.
4:30pm – Downtown Nairobi
I feel all eyes on me as I pass through a sea of Kenyans. I’m a “Mzungu,” or white traveler. I’ve got my big back strapped to my back and my smaller one to my chest.
“Yaya. Where can I get a bus to need to Yaya,” I ask a random guy on the corner. He points me in one direction and as I thank him another man puts his hand on my back and turns me in the other direction.
As I follow the second man, I put my hand in my pocket to fish for a tip. I want to have it ready beforehand, so he and others don’t see me pull out a wad of larger bills.
5:15pm – Bus to Yaya
“You are banished from this house for three days!” comes the booming voice amidst sounds of an argument and a scuffle.Kenya has suffered another act ofterrorism, and the entire bus is listening closely to the rhetoric from the politicians on the radio at full volume.
“Mr. Speaker,” comes another voice in Kenyan accent. “I rise firstly to condemn these acts of violence, and to offer my condolences to the victims and their families.”
I’m feeling glad that the bus has taken off, and surprised that I have learned so much peace and patience from traveling for the last four years.
9:30pm – Bedroom
I finish a Skype call to an African American man in his eighties who has wanted to come to Africa all his life. I learn he’s booked his ticket and made his payment for our upcoming Safari!
I’m resting in my cozy bed provided by Robyn, who I first went with to Kenya in 2006, and her Kenyan partner, Irungu.
There’s a knock on my door. It’s Irungu. He was instrumental in bringing about peace in 2007 when Kenya was facing political turmoil and acts of genocide.
It’s time to prepare tomorrow’s agenda. It will be Day 1 of a two-day workshop for South Sudanesepeace activists whose people are now facing civil war and genocide all over again.
I’m feeling excited, and inspired to learn from a man whose life has been spent in NGO sector and community organizing.
11:00pm – Kitchen Table
We’re still working on the agenda. We’ve never facilitated together, and we’re inventing this workshop last minute.
I ask him to trust me when it comes time for me to facilitate the conversations and exercises about Stand vs Position.
I’m feeling grateful for this opportunity and committed to serve the activists and this man who will lead the workshop.
I’m not used to being an assistant, and know it will be good for me.
JUNE 18th
6:30am – Spare Bedroom
I’ve just showered and shaved, and am now ironing my shirt.
I want to look my best today, but living out of a backpack for 4 years leaves few options for dress up days.
I’m feeling a little bit of shame, wishing I could dress up right.
8:00am – Conference Room
I pour a cup of coffee as the workshop is about to start. I’ve never faced what these people are facing. Will they accept me and what I offer them?
I’m feeling nervous and excited. I breathe deeply and remember Who they are for me, and Who I am for them.
8:45am – Conference Room
I’d suggested Irungu have people introduce themselves by saying who the people are that they’re most concerned for, and what they are standing for.
I know it will start us off with a heartfelt context of honor, but I’m not prepared for how it will impact me personally.
“The people I am most concerned about are the children, my family and all the people of SouthSudan,” says the South Sudanese man to my right. “I AM COMMITTED TO ENDING THE WAR.”
BOOM! I am hit in the chest with this feeling I call Honor. Just then it hits me… WHAT AM I COMMITTED TO? I’ve been traveling the world for four years, enjoying a life relatively free from commitment.
I realize there are two groups of people who I am most concerned for: my immediate family, and those who are standing for others.
When it comes around to me, I express this, and then I share how I am committed to ending the Wars that take place inside
of ourselves and inside of our families, and that I am committed to standing for the people here in this room.
=======
This was a very exciting day in my life… My books are coming along, and the safari is approaching…
Michael Ivan Skye
VisionForce
PS. Did you get my last email about my trip to Africa, which begins in 21 days? It’s not too late to say YES and commit yourself!
This will be my third time rounding up a crew of Visionary Explorers to journey deep into the heart of Africa for a
I’ve seen visions that my heart and mind will not allow me to let go of. I can never pretend I’ve not seen so clearly what I’ve seen. I must keep walking…
I’m into year five of a sabbatical from facilitating the dojos for visionaries we at VisionForce call iStands. In 2010 I realized I had so much more to learn, and it was time to let go. I’ve traveled around the globe a few times and my own inner world countless times. I’ve searched, I’ve questioned, I’ve experienced, I’ve let go.
I’m cross-training and developing my own ability to continue walking my path, so I can better support others on their paths.
There are unique challenges one faces on a visionary path. The practical tools, methods, concepts and trainings offered through VisionForce have been developed by visionaries for visionaries.
One set of challenges includes holding true to the vision you’ve seen–such as remembering your vision and remembering yourself as holder of the vision–when you may be the only one who has seen it, or the only one willing to hold fast to it in the face of all that comes.
Another set of challenges includes holding true to your own values and the well-being of the world around you, when there can be a tendency to force yourself or the world to change so that your vision can be realized.
In a world that currently tends to prioritize “results,” “productivity,” “making things happen” and “changing the world” to match one’s vision–or one’s idea of what “should” be–the holder of a vision can compromise himself, his values and also his vision in order to force external results.
The primary focus of the VisionForce work is not the realization of the individual’s vision in the world, but supporting and developing the individual who is following the vision of his/her heart. The development of the individual is first, and the visionary path is viewed primarily as a path of development and transformation, much like a spiritual path.
Our iStands are facilitated as part sacred honor ceremony and part inner-martial arts dojo, and meant to be both a rite of passage for a rising visionary entering the visionary path and a cross-training.
Whatever you currently do to maintain and build your skill, strength, capacity, wisdom and vision to walk your path, our iStands are a cross-training arena where you can go for experience and practice which augments whatever else you do to develop yourself.
I’m looking forward to the day I stand before the next group of visionaries at an iStand, but I’m taking my time and trusting all is in perfect order…
Consider joining me in Africa this summer, where I’m going to continue writing my books for a few months, as I fulfill my promise to myself and my visionary African friends of returning at least every four years.
VisionForce is an initiative that grows from a desire to serve and support those who feel a calling in their heart to stand for their people, their world, their values, their vision–in the face of anything: fear, doubt, judgment, grief, endless challenges and seeming impossibility.
It’s for the single father, for example, who has been cut off from his children and is being judged by the mother of his children and his children as well… and who still feels his heart begging him to know his children, to father his children, to be present in their lives, to show his unwavering and courageous love.
How does he cope with the mornings he wakes up in complete hopelessness, shame and despair. What does he do with his rage and thoughts of violence? How does he reconnect to the deep compassion, courage and vision of his heart in times of fear? How does he keep going? Keep standing? Keep facing? Keep staying?
How does he face and deal with whatever gets in the way of him standing for being the man and the father his heart calls him to be in this one brief life? How does he see through the walls of his own fear and judgment to see the mother of his children with his heart–and stand for her also? How does he walk with ALL of his people in his heart?
VisionForce is FOR this father. And ALL his people. He can come here to experience a kind of martial art for skillfully mastering the inner battles and peacefully navigating the wars raging within the minds and hearts of his people.
VisionForce is NOT about trying to help him chase or manage some image of him being ‘happy,’ ‘successful,’ ‘well-adjusted,’ ‘enlightened’ or ‘good.’ No. We’re about asking him what and who his heart asks him to STAND FOR, and we’re here to give him tools, skills and training to answer that call.
We’re not about helping him to achieve some imagined goal of a better world by forcing those he disagrees with to change their ways. No. We’re about listening to what his heart asks him to stand for, seeing the vision of his heart wants the world to see, and standing with him as he walks his path with heart.
Jesse Bloom is a single father who has been standing for all his people, and supporting other single fathers to do the same. His work is not therapy, not religious counseling, not success coaching and it’s not about manufacturing some outcome. No, it’s more like the work of a martial arts mentor in a dojo. He connects fathers to the natural guiding force of honor in their hearts. And it makes all the difference.
This post is Part One of my first person account of my first trip to Africa in 2006 with Robyn Emerson (that’s her and me goofing to the left):
I look out the window. Nothing but clouds below…
The smart and responsible thing to do would be to say, “No.”
Mother Culture was screaming it in fact. “No! Michael, are you crazy? You’ve been working so hard for so long, and you are starting to make some really good money! Don’t sabotage your success!”
Mother Culture was always right. Who was I to question her?
Of course if I had listened to Mother Culture, I wouldn’t be on this plane flying over the Atlantic Ocean right now on my way to Africa. I would be back in Austin, capitalizing on the success of my last event.
My “VisionForce Boot Camp,” a $2,500+ per person training for leaders, visionaries and entrepreneurs had just generated my business the most money to date, thanks to the new $2,500 to $10,000 per person up-sells on the backend.
Here I am with some of my VisionForce Boot Camp participants in May, 2006:
Several people had advised me that this was not the time to leave the business and the team I’d been working so hard to build and head off to some place in Africa for a month, volunteering my time and my work at my own expense.
And they had a point. After five years of creating and leading programs and events, and ten years before that researching and developing my ideas and work, everything seemed to be taking off financially. In addition to my live events, I had just finished my first physical product, the Visionary Mind Program, an online membership site to accompany it, and Visionary Mind Shifts, a free online course.
I was excited about how things were developing, and very proud that people were calling my boot camps and other programs “the most powerful experience of my life” time and time again.
But I was restless.
I was not content to facilitate events that just transform the people’s lives of people who could pay good money for them, and help them become more “successful” within the system.
I’d always envisioned myself working with young, spirited revolutionaries who were up to questioning everything and courageously “being the change” in the world.
I’d tasted and envisioned a life with far more adventure, growth and deep connection than selling workshops, boot camps, online programs, etc. could provide.
My vision of the VisionForce Academy had always been that of a physical academy, where young people could come for a number of years, and where deep and lasting alliances would be built and profound and lasting growth would occur.
The only reason I’d been packaging and selling my work primarily to middle class white American adults was because I didn’t think the young revolutionaries that I really wanted to work with could afford it. And without money, how was I going to build a powerful organization that could affect the scale of change I desired?
I turn and looked over at Robyn. She’s looking out the window of the airplane in a rare moment of peace. There are six of us all together. Robyn, her two daughters, two other teenage girls and me.
She’s been stressed the last several weeks, just barely managing to get all the money together, the flights purchased and everything organized for this trip. We pulled it all together, and now here we are at 30,000 feet.
A friend of mine, who believed herself to be a psychic intuitive, had told me that she had a really bad feeling and had a strong intuition that this trip was too dangerous.
I sensed there might be some danger in going, especially since my preconceptions about Africa had been mostly influenced by what I’d heard in the news and seen on television: AIDS, violence, famine, extreme poverty, misery, etc.
When I confronted Robin with these concerns she just laughed. We’d be taking four American teenage girls to Africa for 3-4 weeks, why did she seem so unconcerned?
And why was I trusting her? The past several months she’s been late, disorganized, overwhelmed and out of money. Is this a grand mistake?
But, she’s why I’m here on this plane. Even though she’s a single mother with two teenage girls, no degree, and no money; she’s working with young people in inspiring and unconventional ways–taking American teens across the world and into other cultures to connect with other young people their age and expand their worldviews. She inspires me.
No money, no “successful” organization, no degree, no one giving her official “permission.” She’s doing it anyway.
And this is my chance to just do it anyway—-to make a greater impact in my world, beyond transforming the lives of those who could afford to travel to my workshops and pay for lodging and the event. Africa!
YES!
One of her two teenage daughters looks over at me and lifts an eyebrow with attitude, as if to say, “Yeah, what?” I smile and return the look as best I can. This is going to be quite an adventure.
In many ways I still feel like a teenager myself. I can’t imagine having teenage children, although I’m old enough. I turn and look back out the window.
What would the African teenagers be like? How receptive would they be to me and what I had to offer them?
To Be Continued…
I didn’t know it then, but this trip to Africa would CHANGE MY LIFE FOREVER! Let me know in the comments if YOU would ever go to Africa.
And consider joining me as I RETURN to AFRICA THIS SUMMER for the transformational adventure of a lifetime!
Robyn and the girls in the Dubai aiport
I sat down with my new friend, Farah Mushtaq, to discuss plans for the VisionForce Safari this summer, and asked her if I could record our impromptu conversation. Listen to her speak of Africa!
I met this visionary woman by chance here in Chiang Rai, Thailand a week ago, and now she’ll be part of our adventure this summer. She started and runs a small orphanage in Nakuru and is involved in a number of other projects there as well. She’ll host us while we’re in Nakuru visiting our other friends and their school in Nakuru. Stay tuned for the “Hidden Camera” footage at the end!
Read more about our VisionForce Safaris, and download Our 2014 Brochure: https://michaelskye.leadpages.net/safari-2014/
In this recording I share recent insights which make the Honor Window and related coaching easier facilitate, more clear and easier for the person being facilitated/coached.
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