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 WeStrive recently reached out to members, friends and organizations with a single question: "Why do you do what you do?" Here, Mikael Hakkarainen/Kaspar, Santosh Dhital Chhetri and Valentin Vollmer share their answers.
Why I do what I do
Mikael Hakkarainen/Kaspar
In the beginning there was music. I can’t recall the first moment I realized that my life was surrounded by it. It’s always just been that way. And I’ve never really asked why.
I’ve been playing the guitar ever since I was ten years old and since then it’s been clear that music is my mission. I’ve done a lot of different things in my life, some related to music, some not, but it’s always been clear that my true task has to do with music. There’s something inside of me that tickles whenever I sing, play or listen to music.
I’ve never learned to take life too seriously. I don’t think it’s meant to be taken too seriously. And so, things that tickle have always gained my attraction. I remember being five years old or so and going to bed and listening to the early Beatles records on our cassette player before falling asleep. Maybe that’s when I became hypnotized into believing that music is what I’m meant for. At least one of the things I’m here for. There are a lot of things that tickle…
Much later, I strove to somehow create a community through and around music: a community of musicians, a community between the artist and the audience and I was open to whatever shape it would or could take. I started to recognize that real communication was something I was looking for and that music is just such a form of communication that can bring people together.
There are many moments, in the studio or on stage or in the garden, when I’ve really connected with another musician through music. I even remember playing a ten-minute jam with someone before we actually got to introducing ourselves to each other. There are audiences I’ll never forget and times I was in the audience that became really special moments. And I believe special moments are at the core of real communication. Through those special moments, something is created that one carries with oneself forever or at least a very long time.
I remember once playing for a small audience in the south of Germany and thinking: “hmm, I really can’t connect with these people. They seem rather stiff.” And out came the self-made straw-whistles and shakers that we carried with us on our tour, sharing them with the audience/which we handed out to members in the audience. Suddenly, this bunch of serious looking people became a group of children. Every one was laughing and making funny sounds (with the instruments). I had a hard time to keep them silent! We performed a song all together and we connected. That was one of those special moments that I’ll always carry with me and it proved to me that communication is possible everywhere, at any time.
Although I had had several occasions for true communication with wonderful people through performance, I had never really explored this through songwriting, which was, and is, one of the essential elements of music to me. That was, until we formed Kaspar with John McGregor. I had been playing with John for a couple of years already and we had been jamming away a lot but never really worked on writing a song. Then came the idea to have a band that carries the name and the impulse of Kaspar Hauser. And we discovered a new form of communication through music. There was no me or him. There simply was us writing a song together. It was as if together we formed a third person. I now like to call our songwriting process “the Kaspar method.”
I think the whole period of writing these songs for Kaspar and recording and playing them, really brought something new to the question of why I do what I do. I cannot describe the feeling that arises when we really connect (with each other) during a performance and when I can almost feel that also the audience is part of this one wholeness with us. There’s a lot one can give through music. To me, it has a healing element. We are trying and hoping that our attempt to reach out and connect with others will succeed.
 I’ve heard a lot of people say that their life is like a soundtrack. I can relate to that. Many songs connect to a certain situation or a place in my life. Such moments can’t be repeated but you can listen to a song and be reminded of it. And being reminded is important. It could be that wisdom is revealed through remembrance. Of course, this all, like everything, can take place on a superficial level. A lot of music is/can remain superficial. A lot of moments we’ve experienced were superficial. And it’s definitely not wrong to be superficial from time to time! As long as we are reminded from time to time, reminded of a meaning. And I think that music can bring meaning and that discovering meaning is part of healing.
But this is all higher physics and should be thought through with care. I myself am “reminded” by music playing through my stereo, by playing music myself or by hearing someone playing (could be a person or the wind blowing). And not a single day, flies by without me being surrounded by music and meaning that have the power to build community.
For more about Kaspar go to: www.myspace.com/kasparband
Kaspar music video, “Phoenix”, directed by Kalle Hakkarainen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE3BEvlL024
Kaspar’s debut album, Kaspar, is out in Finland and on iTunes. It can be ordered through their Myspace site.
Why do you do what you do??
Santosh Dhital Chhetri
People all over the world generally seek for satisfaction in what they do. Some focus on business and others focus on raising children. Some focus on politics and others on social work. The human being by birth is a social being, who lives in a society, grows up in a society, works in a society and finally dies in a society.
My name is Santosh Dhital Chhetri and I chose to focus on education. I work as a teacher at Shanti Sewa Griha, in Kathmandu, Nepal. I have a Bachelor’s degree in management.
Since my childhood I grew up in a very poor household. My grandfather and grandmother were affected by leprosy. People in our community used to hate them and they were kept in a part of the countryside with a room subsided to them by the government. Not only my grandparents, but many people from different parts of the country were there. By the age of 13, my father went to Pokhara to work in a hotel as a waiter. Slowly, he earned enough money for my family’s condition to improve. We eventually could afford to move into a three-bedroom house. I still remember the time when I fought with my parents for a rupee to go to school. This is my past and it always helps me move forward. It leads me to want to do something for society as well as for my country.
After I finished my S.L.C. (class 10) I started a youth club doing some social work. For e.g. I cleaned roads, planted trees, helped build temples by collecting funds from local people.
After I finished my +2, that is, grade 12 I needed a job, because by doing social work I did not earn any money, and my family couldn't support me. I was thinking about working on a social project. Then I spoke with Mr. Krishna Gurung who was the chairman of Shanti Sewa Griha. I told him everything about me and he took me to budhanilkantha just to visit the site of Shanti Sewa Griha. I was so attracted by the work he has done. There I saw a clinic giving free medical treatment to local people and lepers, houses for those affected by leprosy and jobs for them as well. Street children were helped and handicapped children were cared for. There was also a school for poor and orphaned children. I had never seen such a beautiful place providing all kinds of care and help.
It motivated me so much to work for these people who were in need of assistance on so many levels
Shanti Sewa Griha is funded by “Shanti Leprahilf Dortmund” in Germany founded by Marianne Grosspietsch.
Until I encountered Shanti Sewa Griha, I had never heard about anthroposophy. I used to meet Mr. Krishna every Saturday and he used to share with me what he knew about it. He had completed the medical training for doctors at the Goetheanum. The more I learned from Mr. Krishna, the more excited to know about anthroposophy I became, and am still in the process of acquiring knowledge. In talks with Mr. Krishna, he would describe how to make a proper rehabilitation center: as part of an eco village, capable of producing organic vegetables, educating children through Waldorf education and much more. It all touches my heart. The people who were beggars at pashupatinath temple are now capable of giving to society. They received training in house wiring, carpentry, farming, briquette making, etc. People who used to see beggars as a worthless, strain on society now see them as good and laborious persons. These former beggars want to help change society. The people at Shanti Sewa Griha are from different parts of India and the work it offers them has given new life to its community. I am really inspired to work with and for those people. Many of them now have their own room, their own family and they get to employ their capacities and be confident and happy.
I live with these people in the same community where 45 orphaned children and 26 handicapped children live. Inside this community 45 families stay who are affected by leprosy or some form of disability. There is a Waldorf school available and much more.
 I work here as a teacher. My dreams have come true. The most important thing for me is to not forget my past. Now I in turn am helping those people who need my care and attention. It really makes me happy and I am motivated to work for the poor and needy. Throughout my four years here, I have learned many things from the people of Shanti Sewa Griha. I have learned the meaning of life, in these words: "We always ask our country what it can give us instead of asking ourselves what we can do for our country."
Because my grandparents were affected by leprosy, I am emotionally attached to it. I wish to improve the lives of lepers and want to help the people in need with any degree of help. This is the cause that brings me satisfaction.
I am very happy to work with the very people who are otherwise hated by society and their families. They are very happy here. Everyone in this world is capable of doing something in life, big or small, but they just may need the support from another. Such an act brings joy and if we are all happy in what we do, the world will reflect that happiness everywhere.
Why I Do What I Do…
Valentin Vollmer
I just turned 30 a few days ago, which is a milestone I am looking at from many angles. In this context though, the most interesting angle is that I have been active in many kinds of youth projects, now for half my life. Strangely enough, I didn’t choose to do so in the beginning. It took the help of a good friend who convinced me to join a workcamp in Brazil in 1996, which I did. That was the beginning of many more projects to come: workcamps in Brazil, Ireland, Senegal, and Tanzania. In much the same way that I was (positively) pushed into my first project, I found myself in situations that required me to take more and more responsibility; I started organizing and leading projects. I began to see how significant these initiatives had been for me and I could see how important they were, not only for the places, but also for the people participating in them.
I began to realize that other young people wanted to become active in this world, if only they were given the opportunity. This leads me to the question: what can we, as young people, create that would help us become socially active? I and three other people who carried this question found each other and started to talk about it. In 2004 this led to the foundation of Idem - Identity through Initiative. Both the title and subtitle were chosen to stress our focus on an individual person’s development, of a strong and healthy identity that would enable them to play their part in the world. Idem grew fast and is now an informal international network of groups and individuals who desire to be active in the world and relate to each other’s wishes on how to do so. As I worked in this network it became clear that there are many projects and initiatives that young people could become engaged in. The challenge lies in finding them. The next step was clear: We needed a physical space where young people could walk in and ask every question they had, where they could get help if they had an idea, and where they could find the right connections they needed to move forward.
Out of this need, we founded Connect Café Basel in Switzerland. The space has been open for six months and is financed by the City of Basel. It is becoming the local youth information center for all questions and initiatives of young people living in and around Basel.
For the last 15 years, I’ve continually taken on new challenges, asked new questions, and most of all worked with new ideas. I have ideas for preparing spaces, for creating possibilities and foundations with which people can work to create new initiatives – living spaces through which connections can be made and experienced.
These spaces are both needed and difficult to find, especially those in which an individual can develop, in which he or she can be a co-creator, and in which we can find meaning for our lives. If there are living spaces in which people can discover the ways their existence is and can become more relevant in a larger context - can be relevant to the world – then I believe there will be an increase in people who are able to unfold their true potential. They’ll be able to contribute to the world and at the same time develop themselves. They’ll go through the most wonderful experiences doing it. These experiences are much stronger than anything we can read or hear or learn. They truly have the potential to change lives. For a young person, an experience like this can become the foundation for everything they will do in their future.
By creating these living spaces and making it possible for people to experience the connections between an individual and a greater context, I feel I can be most effective in the world. I can help to create thoughts, actions, and ideas I myself never had. These thoughts and ideas will be present in many people’s decisions, and they’ll influence the way the world is understood. Ultimately they’ll change the way these people shape the world.
I do such social work because it is a contribution to creating a future that matters. I do this work because we need new ideas and thoughts in order to create this future. I do this work because it has more of a positive than negative impact on the world.
 I also do this work for personal reasons. As soon as I understood how much impact I can have on other people’s lives and the world, I think it became very hard to stop. Since I know what is possible, it seems irresponsible not to be as effective as I can be. Taken a step further, it becomes irresponsible not to become even more effective. This means continuously moving and developing myself. My work is both an inner and an outer striving. One is closely connected to the other. I need the inner development in order to be able to do what I do, and through the activities and projects I have new thoughts, ideas, and questions.
I think I need to do something meaningful in the world as much as I need oxygen. I need it so that I can survive. Or maybe I just simply never learned anything else?
I can’t claim that everything I’ve done in my life was based on conscious decisions. It feels much more like there was a path laid out for me, new doors opened, and I had to step through. I only had to be aware of the new doors and see them - which sometimes was easier and sometimes harder. But it certainly always brought me forward.
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