There are so many organizations and non-profits that have a desire to improve the world. I have deep admiration for those groups. Whether it is the current deplorable situations in Burma or Darfur, or issues of world hunger or Global Warming, many people are finding ways to create change. One of the challenges I often see amongst these groups is the duplication of efforts. If these passionate groups could find ways to communicate and collaborate with each other, we could combine resources, save time, and accomplish a great deal more. Besides, there is power in numbers. The internet is flush with stories that exemplify that power of mass and its ability to create a viral effect. We should be looking at these new models of success for guidance.

You might have heard of the organization "Laptop for Every Child"....

To read the rest of this blog, visit The Huffington Post.

This summer I was thrown into a third world prison. This is a story for my next book "This Is Not the Life I Ordered, Still"! Thankfully, I managed, with some help and a touch of trauma, to get back to San Francisco. However, my luggage did not.

United Airlines assured me that the luggage was never lost. After we arrived back home, both my assistant and I went through more trauma at the incompetent hands of the United Airlines Luggage Department. There is no easy way to say it but they are incompetent. I wish I had a penny for every time one of the "Luggage Specialists" assured us that our luggage was not lost. Those pennies would add up quickly and I could pay for a one way ticket to their lost luggage complex and find my own damn luggage!

I am more than a trifle upset that my luggage was lost. There were a lot of important things in that piece of luggage that are irreplaceable. I had all the original Zimbabwean newspaper articles about President Mugabe and his thugs that were part of my research for the documentary that I am completing. There were names, addresses, and original testimonies that I needed to follow up on human rights violations. Besides my clothes, there were many items for my kids. I wanted to show them the incredible talents of artists from Zimbabwe with the artwork I packed away. There were also these hand-carved wooden instruments and beautiful bowls with intricate animals that lined the inside. Books on Lions, Giraffes and Elephants, oh my...and the South African soccer team jerseys that my boys would wear to school for a month! I even had my dirty prison garb wrapped in plastic. How do I get those items back?

To read the rest of this blog, please visit The Huffington Post.