Several months ago I had the privilege to design a web site for a brand new organization called World Next Door. The site designs is one of my favorites out of all my projects so far but the heart behind this organization is what made this project so rewarding.

Right now Barry and three WND Interns are in Kenya writing some of the most compelling posts you’ve ever read. Please add them to your RSS Reader and follow what they’re doing.

I’m passionate enough about World Next Door that I wanted to introduce Barry and his organization to my readers so here’s an interview I did with him a while back. – Brad

Introducing Barry Rodriguez & World Next Door

What’s your “elevator pitch” for someone who wants to know what World Next Door is and what it does?

Well, to put it very simply, World Next Door uses photojournalism as a means of getting suburbanites involved in social justice (issues like AIDS, hunger, poverty, etc.).  Our team of journalists travel around the country and around the world, “embedding” ourselves in organizations and ministries that are doing stuff in the struggle for social justice.

But rather than writing a whole bunch of super depressing stuff (which doesn’t ever seem get anyone involved), we try to come at it from a different angle.

First of all, we think of our website as an online travel magazine.  Lots of our articles have nothing to do with social justice at all!  We write about eating strange foods, meeting interesting people and making stupid cultural mistakes.  A lot of our stuff is actually funny.

Second, when we do write about social injustices, we never end an article without an element of hope.  Even in the darkest of places, we are able to find places where light is shining, change is happening and life is springing up.

By using humor, hope and great photography, we hope to draw people in, show them the real world, and get them fired up to head out and do something about what they’ve read.

Wow.  That was a long elevator ride.

What experience has had the most profound affect on you in your travels so far?

Hmm… That’s hard to say.  I have had the opportunity to see some terrible, life-wrecking things as I’ve traveled.  Slums, disease, poverty, depression… enough to thoroughly destroy any hope I could have had of living in blissful ignorance.

At the same time, I have seen again and again the way God is working in the world.  Miraculous transformations, jaw-dropping compassion, an endless supply of hope… I have been able to sit at the feet of men and women all over the world who have dedicated their lives to helping the least, the lost and the unloved.

As far as long-term affect, though, I would have to say that my first few visits to Nairobi’s slums in 2005 had the most far-reaching influence on me.  Walking through seas of tiny metal shacks, jumping over streams of raw sewage, sitting with people in their tiny 10′x10′ “homes,” I couldn’t help but have my world rocked forever.

What made you decide to live in the Kibera slum for 5 weeks? What can you accomplish living there that you couldn’t from just visiting?

That’s a good question.  I suppose there are two answers…

First, I think living in Kibera is simply the next logical step in my journey.  I’ve seen some crazy things, eaten some nasty stuff, and visited some unbelievable places.  But so far, in almost every one of those instances, I’ve had a place to get away.  I’ve always had a comfy room with my host family, a day off to go do American things, and of course, a plane ticket home.

But actually living in Kibera means that many of my old comforts are gone.  When I’m done with a hard day of walking through the slum, visiting people and sweating a lot, I come “home” to a meal of ugali and sukuma wiki, no electricity and a cold bucket bath in an outhouse.  Haha… needless to say, it’s taking me to a whole new level of cultural immersion.

Second, as a World Next Door journalist, living in Kibera gives me opportunities to learn and research stuff that most people can’t.  Let’s face it.  When the sun goes down in the slum, white people disappear.  Because I am living there, I get to experience the sights, sounds, and smells during the other 12 hours of the day.

What has surprised you the most in your travels?

By far the most surprising thing I’ve discovered in my travels is that people are the same all over the world.  They really are.

Before I had the opportunity to travel extensively, I sort of assumed that people living in, say, a Kenyan slum or a Ukrainian orphanage or a rural Indian village were completely different than me.  But as I actually met these people, I realized how similar we are.

They have the same desires, the same fears, the same needs as I do…  Sure, those things may manifest themselves a bit differently in different cultures, but deep down, everyone wants to be secure, to be significant, and to be loved.

How can a web site like World Next Door really make a difference in the lives of the destitute people you encounter on your trips?

The suburbs of America are like a sleeping giant.  In the ‘burbs are some of the wealthiest, best educated and highly trained people on the planet.  If this population were to turn away from self-serving materialism and begin addressing the needs of the world, I believe that vast change would be possible.

That’s why “suburbanites” are World Next Door’s target audience.  If we can wake up the giant, show it the blazing inferno of injustice and turn it loose, those insurmountable problems would begin to crumble and fall.

You take a lot of pictures in your travels. What the story behind your favorite picture?

Well, I would have to say that my favorite images would be these two:

This one is of a girl in a Kenyan slum.  I am absolutely captivated by the beauty in those eyes.  It reminds me that in such a terrible, dirty place, there is still wonderful, beautiful hope.

This picture is one of the boys at Romaniv Disabled Boys Orphanage in Ukraine.  If you read the article, you’ll know…the place is a hell-hole.  But a little love and some dedicated compassion has put a smile on his face.  There is hope in the darkness.

What are some simple ways people can learn more about WND or support you?

Well, feel free to check out our website, www.worldnextdoor.org.  At this point we are updating the site 5-6 times a week with new articles.  Take a look around, read some of our most popular articles, and by all means sign up for our email updates or RSS feed!

If you are interested in supporting us financially, check out our Give page.  Or, if you’d like to join the volunteer team, check out our Join Us page.  You can also find out more about next summer’s internship, if that is something you are interested in.

Looking forward to meeting you!

Please pray for Barry and the rest of his team who are in Kenya now. If you decide to check out World Next Door, please come back here and share with me what articles, photos or stories impacted you the most.