Author: Paul Ryan

An Abundance of Philosophy with a Scarcity of Wisdom

An Abundance of Philosophy with a Scarcity of Wisdom

Posted by | Aug 25, 2016 | , , , |

Photo: Wikipedia As with most perspective-changing events, this one began on an idle Tuesday. One of my Nepalese coworkers approached me and explained that ISET hosted a competition awarding funding to graduate students, and the competitors were presenting their projects today. The presentations were going to be in English, and they asked me if I wanted to see them. I had figured out my lesson plan for the day and didn’t have much else going on, so why not? I came to the room and saw about 10 people sitting outside. They seemed nervous, but excited to tell us...

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Shanty Towns and First World Problems

Shanty Towns and First World Problems

Posted by | Aug 7, 2016 | |

Photo: Paul Ryan I’m honestly not sure how I ended up in Nepal. I speak Arabic, I specialize in the Middle East. But thanks to the LBJ internship requirement, I found myself off on a 14-hour plane ride to Kathmandu. And like every good LBJer, I was going off to make the world a better place, to make my first mark in the field of Aid and Development. And now every morning before I go off to make that contribution, I eat my breakfast facing a Nepalese shanty town. Not directly, of course, but if you’re tall enough, and...

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