Reunion with Akesha

I had last seen Akesha in 1999. She’s in Portland for the weekend, and Sue and I spent an animated morning talking and walking with her in Sellwood Park.  

Akesha found me when she was doing field work in South Africa. She was born in Oregon, completed a degree in Anthropology at Reed College in Portland with field work in Mayan languages, and was finishing her M.A. in anthropology with a concentration in linguistic studies when she came to South Africa in 1998, my last year there. I connected her with a Zulu traditional healer I had been working with, and she went to live with their family. Within six weeks, she was speaking fluent Zulu. 

Fast forward seventeen years, now she is a Zen student, writing a novel and working as a translator. She has been accepted in a program to train as a Jungian analyst, although she might decide to become a life coach or a Zen priest instead. She has an abiding interest in ritual, languages, and the quest for transcendence as it expresses itself in different cultures. She has a beautiful eight-year-old daughter and is currently living in Seattle. I think this portrait catches some of her warmth, brilliance, and kindness. She is in love and full of light and possibility. Whatever career choice she makes, she will spend her life helping people know themselves and each other, listening and caring.

Update on the Golden Rule from Helen Jaccard: “Aggressive harassment against freedom of speech on the water culminated in the ramming of the Golden Rule peace boat, whether reckless or intentional, by the Washington County Sheriff's boat. This occurred at 5:15 pm on Thursday afternoon, June 9, in the Willamette River at Portland, Oregon, during the annual "Parade of (war) Ships." The extent of the damage, a deep gouge high on the starboard bow, is still being assessed. It will probably not slow down our Pacific Northwest voyage. We will continue sailing for a nuclear-free world and a peaceful, sustainable world. You can join us anytime during the next four months in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. Check out the schedule on our website, where you can also make a donation. We really need it.”