Collector of stories

on being a community journalist

I’ve been a community journalist for a year now. It’s never boring. The great thing about documenting life in a small town is meeting such a variety of people, who tell me their stories and trust that I will share them in a way that shows who they are and what matters to them. In other words, I am a vessel for carrying stories, for depicting the lives of human beings who live in my community.

I tell stories through words and pictures. It is said that a picture is worth 1,000 words. I don’t know about that. I find that I really need both the words and the pictures to tell a story.

The Buddhist temple and meditation center has been on Grand Island for three years. A few Buddhist monks, who are all from Thailand, live there and take care of the grounds. About a month ago, the celebration that they held attracted members of the Buddhist communities in the Buffalo area and beyond. Also attending the ceremony was the Thai ambassador to the United States and the consul general, based in New York City. Not only did they attend the ceremony, they also participated in planting trees on the grounds.

Head monk Phramaha Piya Jundadal said that planting trees is important. “They give us oxygen. Especially now that we are facing the problem of climate change, we want to plant more trees.”

More stories are coming about people who follow their passion and do so much to make their lives and the lives of those around them better. Stay tuned to this feature that I expect to share one to two times per week.