a walk around the world

This is a pretty incredible story about a group of middle-aged women (and one 79 year old woman in a wheelchair) who impulsively decided to walk around the world. Taking the concept of backpacking around Europe for summer vacation to the extreme, they began their harrowing journey in 2005 and arrived at the gates of the White House on Wednesday. Their mission? To meet new people from different cultures and to show the world a kinder side of what has become an unfavorable (to say the least) American image.
What did this mission accomplish? Some would say nothing at all. They will create no lasting policy changes by completing this journey. For me, however, reading a story like this gives me hope. Hope that cultural, racial, and religious barriers can be overcome when they cease to become stigmas and instead take on the faces and names of real people. This walk around the world shows that while governments and international politics are indispensable, sometimes opinions about a nation and its people can be changed with a simple shared meal or an honest conversation.