As an adolescent I lived in the Far East, which was way back in the sixties, then later fortified my cultural appetite with numerous travels as a young adult to distant places. But it was only 25 years later that my dreams would mature into concrete actions.

I suppose I always knew that those childhood and adolescent experiences, harvested whilst travelling around the world with my parents, would sooner or later mark my own trajectory in life. Having been witness to so much inequality and indifference I found it difficult to just turn a blind eye to reality and simply continue living my life of luxury in Norway, one of the world’s safest countries and highest standards of living. But then there were those common life responsibilities and compromises (or should I say impediments) -- job, wife and children; always demanding first priority and serving a constant supply of good reasons for not doing what my mind was set out on doing.

But as with all good things in life, nothing is forever!

After the separation from my partner whom I had shared a good part of my adult life with, those adolescent dreams would once again give food for thought. My own kids had already grown up and job-wise I was my own boss. By then, I was already well known amongst friends and family as a creative project person, constantly on the verge of some new project. I guess my childhood nomadic existence had caused a certain restlessness in me that constantly sought replenishment.

During my first few years of “freedom” I started a summer project in old Yugoslavia, a kind of holiday resort, where I used the profits of my Arts- and Antiques business in Norway to help some of the drug kids I used to work voluntarily with. After five years the war broke out there and I lost access to my home in Croatia, abandoning everything to the inevitabilities of an unruly society. Although it was sad to see much of what I had built up over the years suddenly destroyed by human egoism, this only strengthened my appetite even more for new challenges.

After lessons learnt in Yugoslavia I decided there should be no retreat if I were to realize my “final” project. I felt the time was now ripe to put into action some of those idealistic adolescent dreams of mine, in the hope of helping the underprivileged children that I had seen so many of during my 40-year lifespan but had felt the same helplessness towards that most of us feel when faced with such challenges. That was back in 1992, when I made the then controversial decision to sell out my successful business, my home, all of my earthly possessions, in fact everything connected to a secure lifestyle, to invest all my energy and resources in the organization I started called the Children At Risk Foundation - CARF. My crazy actions made peak viewing time on Norwegian Television and aroused not only a great deal of interest but also a lot of confusion amongst those who represented the secure lifestyle I was abandoning, amongst many of whom were my friends.
I suppose you could say my decisions were a result of that famed “crisis”, which most mature men face at 40; a time for reflection and evaluation of passed years, and when important decisions concerning the future are to be taken or be rejected. Almost like standing in front of some gigantic, fortified door waiting to be opened, but a door that many of us choose to pass by and leave closed due to all the insecurities and consequences opening such a door might have on our own “established” and “safe” lifestyle.

I suppose I could say I’m generally rather tough (also with myself), temperamental and stubborn, yet at the same time softhearted and sentimental. I’m full of fire most of the time, but philosophical and with a good portion of my youth idealism still intact, although realistic towards the realities of life. I’m spiritual but not religious and optimistic with a positive outlook. Aspiring, open-minded and intuitive, always planning forward with plenty of imagination, honesty and where justice and morality rule the way, finished off with a cream topping of generosity.

I’m obviously a Sagittarius if you’re still wondering.

I’ve had my fare share of ups and downs in life, something I believe is highly essential if one is to take on the kind of challenges I’m faced with every day. No dancing on roses here -- more like a cactus bed! Nevertheless, I would have loved to turn the clock back a few times and changed a few things for the better.
I find life is far too short, wish I could figure out a way of adding a couple of more hours to each day, a couple more days to each month, not to mention the extra month in each year, which might just give me a little more breathing space as I already use most of what the traditional calendar year has to offer. I like to get things done and hate hanging around doing nothing! Going on for 54, I still feel I have more energy than most of the youth in our street kids programme, even if I do work double the hours that most of them do.

I adore art, aesthetics and quality and I hate taking the easy way out of anything. Can’t get enough of the beautiful things in life, although I’m surrounded by material misery and ugliness most of the time, living in one of the most impoverished regions in the outskirts of this mega city São Paulo. I suppose the beautiful, spontaneous Brazilian children here and their abundant ability to smile helps feed my appetite when all else fails.

My busy volunteer life running CARF in São Paulo, Brazil, leaves very little room for romance, but I was happy to have plenty of that in my earlier life together with my former Norwegian partner and mother to Marcus and Christine, whom I miss a great deal as distance puts its limits on our togetherness. I look forward to the day when I can cultivate the romantic side of me once again, even if it means at a ripe old age. I think the more we mature - the wealthier becomes our love life.
These last 14 years have taught me the value of friendships and the amount of time necessary to create new ones. I miss most of mine due to them being on the other side of this planet. Friends in my line of business are seldom commodity.