"The person who is an inspiration to me is the one who paved the way for me to head to Panama for 2 months (and try my first Cuban, a delicious Punch Coronation). His name is Dani Fuchs and through an attitude of compassion and a heart of love he has been able to live his life traveling from island tribe to island tribe.
I met this guy at a Christian college, where he was working on staff. He spent 8 hours a day working at the college, trimming trees and taking care of the grounds. It was here that he first told me about wanting to work with 'Casas de Esperanza' an organization focused on rebuilding houses struck by disaster in Latin American countries. His end goal was to do work in Cuba and as a German he only needed connections into the country to make the trip possible. Working in Panama was the first step in doing so.
I excitedly agreed to go on the trip but had no idea what was in store. You would expect that someone leading a three person trip hundreds of miles from home would have some sort of unsureness or worry about how things will work out. Not this guy. Traditional plans were thrown out the window and in its place was a loose strategy built on the opportunities that presented themselves and the friends that we made along the way. This was not procrastination or a lack of foresight on his part, but a complete trust in his beliefs and the accomplishment of his goal.
We spent the two months working with various organizations and traveling to jungle tribes across Panama planning for and building houses. I returned home and eventually Dani returned home too. However, this was not before he traveling to several other central American countries and finally got an opening into Cuba. Looking through the images he posted on that trip and the updates I got from it, I felt a sense of pride in my friend and was inspired and impressed. Not just because of the accomplishment of his goal, but because I knew the open-hand process he went through to get there and the fact I knew he would head back there. His life is definitely something I learned from and would like to emulate." - Jeriah