Modern vs old and the redeeming nature of beauty

I've been writing some pieces on the JDC field blog. Here's one on Georgia - http://www.jdc.org/jdc-field-blog/2015/hope-amid-struggle-in-georgia.html

For me, this was really seeing the role of beauty and art in the most difficult circumstances- and how grateful I was to encounter that.

And another on Cuba (yes, a lot of travel), which is really about how hard it is to understand what you are seeing if you don't know what came before-- so important if you want to understand dynamics at work in a place. http://www.jdc.org/jdc-field-blog/2015/silence-speaks-loudly-in-cuba.html?s=g_npr_in