"Barton Brooks's compassionate heart and leadership brings hope to some of the darkest corners of the world.

I admire all his hard work and especially enjoyed seeing the positive difference he's making in Africa."

–Laura Bush First Lady of the United States of America

ABOUT

I added the silly little video at the top of this page because it was one of my very happiest days - ever. I was in Laos and walking down the streets of Luang Prabang, and didn't know where I was going to help that day. I looked through the shopping stalls over at a group of young monks, who were digging in the garden in front of their pagoda. I waved, they smiled, and I went over to say hello. I asked if they needed my help, and they said "YES!" and pointed to the wheelbarrow. They showed me where to dump it, and I took load after load - all...damn...day. I was tired. They were laughing as they kept filling my wheelbarrow, and sending me on another run. Their lighthearted laughs and our joyful conversation was what I needed that day. They thanked me over and over for helping, I thanked them for the chance to spend the day with them.

That's what guerrilla aid is - simple, helpful, and creates the best days of your life!

Getting up, again...the backstory

I traveled the world most of my 20's and early 30's, studying in Jerusalem, living in Europe, Asia, New York and LA. I was either running from my life or searching for it - and I couldn't tell you why at the time. I was aimless - an unmoored college dropout, going from job to job trying to see where I fit, but I never seemed to make sense anywhere in the world.

During a moment of frustration, I saw Angelina Jolie on some news program talking about Cambodia, and I bought a plane ticket right then and there. It seemed about as far away from my life as I could go, both in distance and reality.

While I was near Angkor Wat, I met a group of monks caring for some orphaned boys, and I became obsessed about helping them and that little community. This picture was taken that first day, and what started as a simple project to take school supplies and soccer balls to a village in Cambodia, turned into something much more beautiful than I ever thought possible.

That little project turned into a small non-profit organization, that focused on immediate aid by being limber in its approach. I initially funded it by selling a car that I built and by crowdsourcing, and leaned heavily on friends and donors. I'd just email simple youtube videos with pleas of, "I need $7 for a beehive, will you donate?!"

It was long before GoFundMe or social media, and I built projects everywhere. I gave cows to the Maasai in Kenya, planted trees in Mozambique, worked with an orphanage in Nepal, built floating libraries in Laos, schools in Cambodia, and facilitated or funded other projects in Burma, India, Thailand, Uganda, and elsewhere.

My approach was so novel and fluid, that I got attention fairly quickly, and got a call from the White House asking if I could help create something for First Lady Laura Bush in Africa. I ended up as one of her international aid consultants, joined her as an advisor at the United Nations, met her in Africa and Utah, and designed a trip for her to southeast Asia. She was always so kind to me.

Then came the lovely folks at Oprah, who brought me in on a joint venture, where I'd run around the world doing guerrilla aid, and they'd highlight the work on oprah.com to show how anyone can create positive change anywhere in the world. It was enormously successful, and I raised over a hundred thousand dollars in small dollar donations during the first four months - building clean water wells, chicken coops, and working on community projects.

I signed a TV deal with Oprah about my travels and work, was featured in O Magazine, Town & Country, NYPost, and named one of GQ's finalists for their "Better Men, Better World" award.

Thousands of people were being helped around the world, and I had purpose. I was finally good at something, and life was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.

At the height of it all, on Friday the 13th of March in 2009, I was hit by a truck on my motorcycle in Uganda. My femur was shattered, I had a broken shoulder, cracked skull, broken arms, knees torn from the ligaments, and was left for dead on the side of the road. A taxi drove by, and I was folded up and put in the back seat, with my leg on the floorboards turned backwards. I went in and out of consciousness for the hour long drive to Kisoro. I was stabilized at a small local hospital, and then a few days later put on an Medevac flight to Kampala for some emergency procedures. Then home to New York for months of reconstructive surgeries.

I made it back to Uganda less than a year later to finish what I started, only this time, on crutches. I was determined to keep going, so a month later after the disastrous earthquake in Haiti, I went immediately - rebuilding the first school in the entire country. I was getting back on track, calling in weekly to Gayle Kings radio show, and still planning on joining Oprah’s team.

My leg was feeling a bit wonky in Haiti, so I went back to NYC for one last doctor visit, where I learned that my femur was rebuilt incorrectly - catastrophically so. My leg had to be rebroken immediately, and there would be years of surgeries and rehab to follow. I shed many tears before checking in to the hospital where they rebroke my leg, and the process began again.

My life disappeared almost immediately, as my funding dried up, planned projects languished, and I lost the Oprah TV deal. The effects of PTSD overtook my mental health, and I retreated to Woodstock to hide in the woods - just living off a cash settlement from the malpractice lawsuit. I was beyond lost, and had no idea how to exist in the world. I'd spent years accomplishing big things, where thousands of people had benefitted, and then in what felt like a flash, I was a completely different person. Now I was just a melancholy man that wandered his yard, tending to his chickens and watching the deer.

I tried for years to take control of my mental health, and after much trauma therapy with Bessel van der Kolk, I started to feel like my old self again. I began to wonder if I still had anything to offer the world. It seemed like I'd left so much on the table so many years ago, but how would I do it? I was now in my fifties, with a titanium femur that makes me limp when I get tired, and I was full of all sorts of fear - was it even possible? Who would believe in me now?

What finally pushed me over the edge, is that I kept hearing things like, "tell your story!" from Michelle Obama, and "Be BRAVE!" from Bessel and every podcast I followed. Brene Brown, Jay Shetty, Mel Robbins - all seemed to be speaking directly to me, "Barton, BE BRAVE! HAVE COURAGE! GET UP AND RECLAIM THE LIFE YOU WANT TO LIVE!"

It felt ridiculous at the time, but I decided to call former supporters, donors, and friends, telling them I wanted to try again, and shockingly, they all still believed in me. I raised enough money to get back on the road, and also raised enough for a nominal donation for each stop along the way - with hopes of raising more at every location. They still believed in me, and now I had to believe in myself, so long story longer, I'm going back out to try again...

I'm still stunned this is all happening, and to be honest, I'm scared shitless. It's been fifteen years since I was that guy, and the last time I tried to circumnavigate the globe doing good, I was nearly killed. But I'm realizing that it's never too late to pick up an old dream, and you're never too broken to be brave.

So, even if I'm not quite as effective as I once was, I'll try again, and I'd be stoked if you'd follow along and help if you could.

My first stop? Armenia, in honor of my grandmother. After that, who knows? So follow along, give me suggestions, and we'll figure it out together.

Sometimes a few points don't fit in a narrative, but a few things...

My original (and forever) holy trinity of inspiration that I still lean on:

1. Angelina Jolie - a goddess - and I owe my entire life to her. I once saw her in a refugee camp in Haiti and almost tackled her rushing to thank her, apologized out of breath, and then she was shuttled away and I cried - my lifetime dream is to actually have a decent conversation with her.

2. Oprah - because, duh...name anyone else in the world who did more with their station in life at birth and you'll see that there is no equal. Her existence proves that we all have potential to be great.

3. Laird Hamilton - the way he lives his life with intention and adventure, always focussed on activity and health, has motivated me throughout my life.

Angelina, Oprah, and Laird inspired me to create my best life, and Brene, Jay, Michelle, Mel, and Bessel taught me how to reclaim it - what a gift they are...

ps. This trip will be remarkable, but I'm going to miss my chickens...