Today I received an email from Tomohiro, a man who lives in Tokyo and works as a program manager for an NGO delivering simple, life-changing technologies designed for the developing world.  Tomo is one of 50 men and women from around the world who will be honored by the Dalai Lama in February 2014 as “Unsung Heroes of Compassion,” individuals who compassionately and selflessly care for others with no expectation of recognition or reward.  I had the privilege of writing about the 50 unsung heroes honored in 2001, 2005 and 2009. 

This year, as an event co-producer, I am getting to know and support another 50 honorees.  When I asked Tomo to share something that inspires him in his very difficult work he sent me this by Aldous Huxley: “It’s a bit embarrassing to have been concerned with the human problem all one’s life and to find at the end that one has no more to offer by way of advice than ‘Try to be a little kinder.‘”” 

Scattered far and wide, Tomo and the unsung heroes of compassion are definitely my lost tribe.