Most of you in my circle have been through and/or are going through the kind of devastations of life so misunderstood that words fail and loved ones may never have the capacity to understand or truly see. These are the kinds of devastations not depicted in film and story.

Some become the villain in their own former story, but now to others. Some become the one they needed at their greatest time of need.

You, my magical microbes, are the later. And that is why you are in my circle.

Through you I have the honor of seeing your opalescent strings of empathy, intention, and choice. Of bringing light where there is none.

And so I ask you to bring light to my Zimbabwean family -- through intention, prayers, kind notes, "tips on how to get through," or donations.

For it is those who have been most abandoned by life who know exactly what one in crisis needs. And I know no one better suited to this task than you.

So let me introduce you to my Zimbabwean family, how they came to be, and why our light is needed.

Introductions are in order, but first, I want to ask you a question:

Has anyone ever helped you for no reason at all?

I mean in a BIG way.

Not because you were family. Not because they owed you anything. Not because they wanted your favor or future deeds. But simply because they saw you—stranded, vulnerable—and chose to act with astounding kindness?

That happened to me… in Zimbabwe.

It was the start of the COVID shutdown. The country was already reeling from past trauma—Cholera had just swept through the region, and now panic was setting in again.

The banks were empty. The ATMs were dry. At the time, power outages occurred for 20 hours a day (this occurred during the only hours when businesses and grocery stores were open), which meant you could not use credit cards and could not buy groceries.

U.S. dollars had been the currency in unofficial circulation until the day I landed. On this day, the authorities criminalized the use of USD. Putting me in an… interesting position to say the least.

Each day, I arrived at the grocery store, filled my carts, and prayed that the power would turn on for even a moment for my credit card to run through. I did this for 7 days in a row and left empty, with no food.

So imagine, Covid (just a week prior thought to be an isolated event in Italy) was now creating widespread governmental shutdowns. My flights were all canceled. I knew no one. I had no usable currency, no access to food, no power, no shelter, no vehicle, and no safe way out.

Yet, I felt calm.

When true crisis strikes—when everything falls apart, I get present, focused, precise. This is how I’ve navigated my ways out of kidnappings and all the fun adventures that come along with my line of work. That and luck of course.

Now I don’t want to paint a false picture. Some things: tech issues especially, drive me up a wall. But when it’s serious—life-threatening serious—something in me locks in.

So I went on a water fast.

I found the right plants locally to block the infection.

And quietly and unquestionably, I began to plan my escape (rather unlikely to be successful given the situation).

But before I could… along came Nina's family, for whom this Go Fund Me is about.

Nina's family is now my family, as I am sure you can understand why.

Without hesitation, they welcomed me in. They didn't know for how long, and they didn't know who I was. They didn’t know my name the week before. They had no context, no reason to trust me.

Can you imagine?!

To this day, I am still bewildered. We were strangers in every sense.

And yet, they did. And it wasn't casual. They treated me like royalty... in the middle of a national and international crisis, when food was scarce, and inflation was spiraling out of control (a measly 255.3%).

When I landed in Zimbabwe, a block of butter cost $17 Zimbabwean dollars (ZWL). When I left six months later, that same block of butter was selling for $125 ZWL. For those who have never lived through that kind of inflation, you lose money faster than you can earn it.

Every meal they offered came at a cost that was rising by the day.

This was not surface-level generosity. It was radical and selfless, and it was the kind of generosity that rewrites your understanding of the human spirit.

And now, the very family that saved me is needed that same kind of grace.

Just after Father’s Day, their daughter Nina, an ethereal songbird, radiant, kind, and deeply loved was engulfed in flames when an ethanol table heater flared up and engulfed her. In her shock, she inhaled the flames…

60% of her body was covered in 3rd degree burns.

She was airlifted to Johannesburg, where she underwent multiple rounds of debridement—surgical scraping of burned tissue so severe that it is truly one of the only things I am personally frightened of ever experiencing.

Given the severity of her burns, internal and external, she was transferred to the Alberton Netcare Critical Care Burns Unit. She now experienced what burn units fear most… a raging infection.

Doctors placed her in an induced coma, performed a tracheotomy, and began aggressive interventions to keep her alive. Grafting has concluded, and we pray they take without futher complications.

For those of you who have lost your health—your craft, your joy, your voice—you know that survival is not a celebration.

Perhaps for your loved ones it is…

…but for you...

... it is often the beginning of a far deeper grief—the quiet initiation of a journey you never asked to take. A shift in worldview so profound it will estrange you from the uninitiated. A struggle so vast, it defies language. One that no one seeks out, and few around you will ever comprehend. It will be isolating. It will be confounding. It will be existential.

Nina was an accomplished singer. She had released a single not long ago. And now, with third-degree internal burns and a tracheotomy, she will (if lucky enough) wake in a new dimension, where the rules of engagement have changed, and for which there is no guidebook.

Listen to her single here:

https://open.spotify.com/track/5dac694CwjNI8UiMuAnxq1?si=ic9U3ORBRAa7WJv7x5F1KQ&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A2uClbYLlmrcWZoK8aQKp4p

Zimbabwe is in my top three favorite countries. It has my heart like no other. But like all countries, it has it’s benefits and costs. For me, the benefits outweigh the costs by droves, but after an accident like this, the inconsistency of power is a non-negotiable.

My goal here is less to fundraise for hospital bills, and more to provide safety and consistency once home. Any family in this kind of crisis can go bankrupt with all the expenses we are so familiar with, but Zimbabwe poses unique conditions that are counter to healing from such an infection-prone condition. My focus is to get their power grids secure for her to have clean water and consistent power to heal. If she and her family are not safe from infection and threats, healing becomes insurmountable.

Right now, every astounding kindness will go directly toward:

• 24/7 off-grid power support for their home in Zimbabwe—where power outages last up to 20 hours a day, and where Nina will require constant electricity for oxygen, wound therapy, and eventual home care

• Travel and accommodation for her mother to remain by Nina (in a foreign country).

• Rehabilitation equipment and wound care once Nina leaves the hospital, such as medication, bandages, mobility supports, and post-discharge medical supervision.

• Microbiome recovery.

• Voice restoration and recovery.

• Unexpected medical costs (my American friends understand how devastating this one can be).

If anyone has ever touched your life in a way that defied logic, please consider shining your light... "the light we cannot see."

Prayers, kind messages below, motivations, tips on survival through the hardest months, songs, and donations are all deeply appreciated.

We make the world. Let's make it kind. Let's make it safe. Let's make it expansive.