I still plan to write my ode to the 777, but – wow – I was frozen in surprise and amazement when I received an e-mail from one Pamela McCain yesterday, with the subject, “CONFERENCE INVITATION !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Apparently, McCain found my e-mail through an NGO website found with a Google search, and decided that I was such a worthwhile and competent individual that she wants me to represent my organization at a World Human Right Organization (WHRO) conference in Dakar, Senegal in August! Best of all, they’ll provide roundtrip airfare, visa assistance, and accommodation for the “period of Staying.”

What a fantastic opportunity. This blog is really taking off – already on NGO websites, and the content of the blog has absolutely nothing to do with NGOs, or politics, for that matter! Plus, this organization, the World Human Right Organization, is so hip and of the people, they use Gmail for their e-mail addresses – no fancy domain names for them, which I truly think is progressive and socially conscious of human rights – think of all the people that don’t have a personal domain name out there. We always have to remember how fortunate we are – there are children in India without domain names.  Forgive me – I need to pause, and wipe a tear from my eye. Moreover, these folks are so socially attuned that they don’t even seem to have any sort of website, or any mention of their name, anywhere, on the internet. I really commend such actions – not running a website saves power, energy, and thus reduces carbon emissions.

All I have to do is contact the “Secretariat Genera” of the conference and, “Inform them that you were invited to participate by a friend of yours (Miss Pamela McCain) who is a member of the International Committee of the Red Cross and a staff of WORLD HUMAN RIGHT ORGANIZATION (W.H.R.O).” Wow – now, we’re friends? That’s excellent. I hope that we’re good enough friends to inform McCain that I would prefer to have my travel to Senegal exclusively on Star Alliance carriers, so I can earn miles, and up my United Mileage Plus Account. She sounds friendly enough to accomodate such a request.

But, shhhhh – don’t tell anyone, okay, that I have such a fantastic opportunity. Pamela McCain signed the e-mail “Yours secretly” – I just think that she doesn’t want other people, without blogs, and without mentions on NGO websites, to become jealous of my good fortune.

I’m going to contact the Secretariat Genera right away. For good measure, I’m going to provide my passport number, and a scan of my passport, just to help them expedite the visa process. Hey, it’s all in the name of human rights.