Happy Birthday Bobby Neptune!
Throughout life, many people will cross your path. Some will pass through for a short time, some will hang around for a while, some you will ask to leave, but every so often, you will encounter someone that seems different that everyone else. That someone who will challenge you, inspire you, and love you in a way most people not only do not, but cannot. That person for me is my friend Bobby Neptune.
Our first time working together was when we met in Rwanda in May of 2014. Almost immediately, I knew that this person who I hired to take photos for Kula would become far more than just Kula's photographer.
Bobby quickly became family, not only for me, but for my team, and our families in Rwanda. Our farmers have come to know him almost as much as they know me.
One of my favorite poets, Khalil Gibran, once wrote “…be wounded by your own understanding of love; And to bleed willingly and joyfully. To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving..”. Bobby loves that way.
As he travels across the globe photographing and being surrounded by circumstances that would challenge your very definition of brokenness, he finds the joy and the love and the hope that will ultimately heal that brokenness. That is the only story he tells.
But sometimes, he gets tired. And even though I try to tell him that most people could only withstand a fraction of what he does, every once in a while, the brokenness causes him to question everything. However, in that questioning, he seeks answers, meaning, and God, and somehow in the searching, he makes his weariness beautiful, too.
The stories he has helped Kula tell have changed the way I see the world, and I say that without exaggeration. And through his work for us, we get to share those stories with you.
The Kula Team wanted to do something special for him on his birthday, to show him that we love him, so we put together some of our favorite clips of Bobby that were filmed as we worked and explored East Africa together.
From the Kula team, family, and supporters, Happy Birthday Bobby Neptune! You are loved.
Sincerely,
Sarah Buchanan
