Selfless Service

This past weekend my brother Chris and I were given the opportunity to visit La Canoa, a small village on the Azuero Peninsula in Panama with Steve Bliss from Contextual Solutions. The mission was to meet with Peace Corp volunteers and the La Canoa villagers and film the process of building the “Bliss Stove” out of bricks.

A mere few months ago I had never heard of the Bliss Stove, but that’s not surprising, most haven’t. More importantly, something I had not considered were the problems this stove works to address. Smoke inhalation and deforestation are two of the main concerns for Steve and his team. (See this section of the Contextual Solutions website for further details here.)  The Bliss Stove addresses both of these concerns incredibly well and can be constructed by almost anyone for very little money.

The goal of the filming was to develop a simple “how-to” video detailing the construction of the “brick” method of the Bliss Stove. We were also in an area that had several working examples of the stove, giving us a chance to see it in action and speak with families using it. Upon arrival we met with three eager, happy and helpful Peace Corp volunteers, Chris, John and Daisy. After unloading and introductions we all snapped into gear. We filmed things as they came, it was unscripted, unrehearsed and done with very few takes, the raw footage will tell the story when we get to the editing room. The end product will then be available to anyone and everyone with the capability of downloading the video (YouTube and www.csglobal.org) and although most of the people that will use the stove do not have computers or internet, many of those that can bring this information to them do.

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Steve Bliss and his team have certainly found a solution to a problem. There are many other ideas and designs out there but none have the viability and far reaching access of the Bliss stove. Steve certainly deserves applause for his design and tenacity. My experience with him; however, has shown me that he is not in this for his own gain on any level. Steve is a very humble man with true concern for greater humanity. He is supported by a very loving family who have also sacrificed for the greater good. I am very blessed to call them all friends.

There are precious few people in the world working for the betterment of human kind that ask for nothing in return. True Selfless Service is service that is given with no such expectations, including any expectation of praise, status or financial gain. This type of rare service is not born of the Ego but from a place of humility and love. Only through this type of service can humanity expect to truly evolve. To quote a wise spiritual teacher Kirpal Singh: “If one limb of the body is in torture, the other limbs can have no rest. Service before self should therefore be our motto in life.”

Leif