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Hello everyone! What a surprise it must have been for a waiter in Boston when he received a $1,600 tip -- collectively offered from a large group of diners! And for people on a 'Chat-Tea Train' in Ireland, where performing arts (including a ukulele band!) reignited the human spirit. Or for those in Italy that visited a park after it was cleaned up by contestants in the World Plogging Championship race. Not only do surprises activate curiosity, excitement and wonder, but they also help us learn and think in more flexible ways. The way we hold surprises makes a world of difference. Amidst devastating violence in Israel and Gaza, two friends with roots on opposing sides of war respond by holding love at the center. May this week bring strength to many hearts, as we respond to unexpected surprises with a heart of interconnection.
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Laurie Brooks
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Roberto Rivas teaches Spanish full-time at a local high school, and on weekends, he waits tables at two restaurants. He had just finished serving pancakes and eggs to a party of 16 one Saturday morning when a customer called him over. "We have something for you," said Richard Brooks, counting out $1,600 in $100 bills and explaining they were members of the $1,000 Breakfast Club. Rivas, 29, almost burst into tears. Since his family immigrated to the US from Venezuela in 2022, he'd been saving to buy his mother new hearing aids. Brooks worked as a waiter for five years while at law school and still remembers getting his first big tip. Group members visit a different IHOP in the greater Boston area every few months. About 20 people now belong. "It's a small effort for us, but the impact it has on those recipients is huge," said Janet Meaney, 73. "It's a wonderful way to thank hard-working people."
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Karolina Grabowska | Pexels
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"How are you holding up?" Aziza Hasan texted to her friend, Andrea Hodos. She continued, "I love you. I am sorry. I am here." Hodos' son had a friend who was taken captive by Hamas in Israel. The shock and pain left her struggling to find words. "So much gratitude for your partnership," Hodos replied. Her grief was not only for those in Israel. She also wrote, "I'm so worried about everyone in Gaza for what is ahead." Aziza Hasan, a devout Muslim, whose family roots run through Palestine, runs a nonprofit for whom Andrea Hodos, a devout Jew and once a resident of Israel, is the associate director. The two women remark they are more like sisters than coworkers, often finishing each other's sentences in a friendship forged in care for all humans. As atrocities of war unfold, both women struggle and support each other against depression, nausea, sleeplessness, and loss of appetite. As community leaders, their Los Angeles organization -- which brings together Muslims and Jews -- found itself holding space for people of both faiths to convene together, holding the grief and pain in a circle that was witness to comments like: "I know Israelis who are going from funeral to funeral for children of their friends." "I know people in Gaza who have lost loved ones." "My generation has to make something different for the next. We don't have to repeat the hurt on both sides." Ms. Hasan observed, "When there's a relationship, there are moments of softening that allow a little more slack in the discussion and a little more care."
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Anthony Abu | World Bank
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Nigeria will scale up its Adolescent Girls Intiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) program to improve secondary education for girls in 18 states. World Bank funding of $700 million will allow the country to scale up AGILE activities from the current seven states to eleven additional states, and also include out-of-school girls, those who are married, and those who have disabilities. In the seven states, the number of girls in secondary schools has risen from about 900,000 to over 1.6 million. Over 5,000 classrooms have been renovated and over 250,000 eligible girls have received scholarships. WASH facilities, computers and solar panels have been installed in secondary schools. "Nigeria's working population will soon be one of the youngest and largest around the world, which means that investing in adolescent girls is imperative when addressing overall economic prospects and growth," said Shubham Chaudhuri, World Bank Country Director for Nigeria.
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BBC
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The 'Chat-Tea Train' saw a group of over-60s chat and connect as part of Positive Aging Month in northern Ireland. The Western Health and Social Care Trust organized the unique event in partnership with Derry and Strabane District Council and Translink. Shona McEleney, who works at Glendermott Medical Practice in Derry, says the idea came from a couple in the dementia social cafe. The passengers stopped for tea, coffee and lunch on arrival in Coleraine before returning home to Derry. A theater company for people with learning disabilities performed at the train station before departure and the passengers clapped along with ukulele band U3A as the train meandered along the scenic coastline.
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Wall Street Journal
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Retired IT specialists Renato Zanelli crossed the finish line pulling 140 pounds of trash on an improvised sled fashioned from a slab of plastic waste but suspected it wouldn't be enough to defend his title as world champion of plogging -- a sport that combines running with trash collecting. The recent World Plogging Championship in Genoa attracted more than 70 athletes from 16 countries who spent six hours collecting points by racking up miles and vertical distance and carrying as much trash across the finish line as they can. Spanish plumber Manuel Jesus Ortega Garcia brought in 310 pounds of waste, racked up more than 16 miles and climbed 7,300 feet to win the title. Contestants collected more than 6,600 pounds of trash. "This park hasn't been this clean since the 15th century," said Genoa's ambassador for sport, Roberto Giordano.
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