Serving is responding

In all the talk of what to do in response to the recent tragedies we may be
forgetting that "what we are already doing is the right thing". Every day
that we do something positive for others (whether or not they are related to
these victims) we increase the positive energy and light working in the
world.  This is very powerful in meeting the negative energy and darkness
that we see around us.  These small and large actions bring us all together
is different ways and are concrete demonstrations that the "us/them"
mentality is not reality.  This fear and distrust of "others" is a root
cause of many world problems.

I have focused my work in the past few days on helping my nine-year-old son
collect school supplies for kids in India (a project he started on his own a
few weeks ago that has raised over $500). He is the leader and I am the
helper.  We are both learning a lot.  People around him see the purity of
his actions and are heartened by it, especially now.  A recent article about
him captured it well and it is provided below for those who might be
interested in it as an example.

When we try too hard to find "the appropriate response" we are sometimes
trying to assuage our own feelings of frustration or helplessness as well as
to compassionately meet the needs of others.  There is nothing wrong with
this.  In so doing, however, we sometimes miss the easy opportunities to
serve and learn. If there is a desire in someone to serve in any way they
choose, all we need to do is facilitate that action, whatever it is, and
learn from it.  We may find that those we seek to help need something else,
but that is another opportunity to learn and serve again. (We had a lesson
like this when we collected tooth brushes for village kids in India.)

In other words, now or at any time, it doesn't mater what we do. Just do
something.

Bill

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Bill Leon, Ph.D.
Director of Outreach
Department of Geography
University of Washington
403 Smith Hall
Campus Box 353550
Seattle, Washington, 98195-3550
USA
Phone: 206/380-7730 or 206/685-9693
FAX: 206/543-3313
Email: billleon@u.washington.edu
URL: www.depts.washington.edu/geog/

__________________________________

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/hatcher/38064_candy07.shtml

What if we all had this boy's heart?
Friday, September 7, 2001
By CANDY HATCHER
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER COLUMNIST
Sitting in a fourth-grade classroom in Lake Forest Park is a fidgety kid
with a worthwhile lesson: Never underestimate the power one little person
holds to change the world.
Evan Leon is not quite 10. He's a normal child in most respects, chattering
about Nintendo and "Aliens Ate My Homework," shrugging and rolling his eyes
at any mention of mushy stuff.
But in one respect, Evan is different from most. For the past five years,
he's been sending his allowance to a Third World country to buy school
supplies for children who don't have any.
While watching television one day when he was 3, maybe 4, Evan caught a
glimpse of a commercial asking people to donate money to "help the
children."
His father was channel surfing and already had flipped past the spot when
Evan mentioned it. But the commercial piqued the boy's curiosity, so his dad
began looking for ways his son could "help the children" and learn from it.
Bill Leon called a friend who worked in India, who knew of a school that
needed attention and money.
He found out about Isai Ambalam, an experiment in education that teaches
poor children in South India not only language, geography, math and art but
also life skills.
Evan donated his allowance to the school one week, and then another and
another. His dad matched his contributions.
"Sometimes I got money from people, from $1 to $20," Evan said. He put the
money in a jar, and periodically his dad mailed the school a check. He
started sending the kids his Halloween candy, too -- and once mailed the
whole bag.
In the past five years, Evan has built a connection with the school of 100
children. The students there sent Evan pictures and drawings of their land
near Pondicherry on the Bay of Bengal. Last fall, Evan's class made an
audiotape for the children, and someone translated their messages into
Tamil, the local language.
Evan is learning the value of money -- how much pencils, scissors and
erasers cost -- and what supplies can be mailed easily around the world. He
has learned to send things the children actually need, pencils and chalk,
for example, not toothbrushes, which they don't use.
In January, Evan and his dad, director of outreach for the University of
Washington geography department, traveled with 18 college students to India
for a month. They visited the school, and Evan gave the students a bag of
supplies collected from his school, Brookside Elementary in Lake Forest
Park.
Evan discovered he loved tandoori chicken. "I made a lot of friends." He
went to school with the students in tiny huts, where the walls are
chalkboards and the floors are dirt.
"They always take off their shoes when they go in," Evan said. "Your feet
become really rough!"
He noted similarities in his school experience and theirs -- "they have a
slide and a volleyball court. ... We played 'Duck, Duck, Goose.'"
Last month, Evan decided he could do more for the school.
"He had this notion that he wanted to help," his dad said. He and his father
made a flier, and Evan began walking the stores in Lake Forest Park, asking
merchants to help with donations of school supplies or money.
The ice-cream shop gave $40. The pharmacy gave school supplies. The toy
store gave $50 worth of toys. The photo shop and the coin-operated laundry
contributed. A cafe gave coffee, which Evan then traded for a $30 donation.
And a pizza restaurant agreed to give a discount to customers who donate
school supplies.
Evan totaled the donations, doing the math in a flash: $143 collected the
first day, which he has since doubled. Add to that $100 worth of supplies,
and Evan thinks he has enough to help every child at the school.
Now, Evan is plotting ways to import products from India, sell them and give
the profits to the kids there. Bill Leon said he's learned a lot from his
son on this project. Evan has taught him not to worry about the amount of
money raised when you're trying to help. "Every little bit is great."
I loved meeting Evan for two reasons. He's a bright, engaging child, a
normal kid who loves watching television on Saturday mornings and reading
books. When he grows up, he wants to be a computer programmer.
But I so appreciated his kind heart and the nonchalant way he has gone about
making such a difference in the lives of these children. I asked him why he
helps the kids in India, and he shrugged and squirmed, said something about
how he likes to help the children. And then he deferred to his dad.
"The world is a great place to educate people," Bill Leon said. "It's making
the personal connection."
Editor's note: For more information, call Bill Leon at 206-380-7730.
© 1998-2001 Seattle Post-Intelligencer