110 degrees magazine - Index

110 degrees magazine - magazine_08 - Index

PEEKS I BY LAURA PAGE I PHOTOS BY RUSSELL BYRNE
KIDS HELPING KIDS
Our kids in East County are being raised in an environment
that rarely focuses on giving to others or
saving lives of the less fortunate. They seldom see
a homeless person or undernourished toddlers
with dirty clothes and no shoes.
Our children’s insulation from the needs of the
world has bothered me in spite of the fact that I’ve
always been interested in community development
and have participated in a number of charitable
fundraisers. My husband is on the same page as I
am when it comes to community service projects.
I’ve volunteered and been part of organizations
since my husband has known me. He’s proud of
what we’re doing. For example, I became a part of
SEED — Byron’s Seeking Excellence in Educational
Development — that raises money to support
academic programs in public schools.
In spite of a spirit of volunteerism that many of
us share, we have been guilty of over-indulging our
children and not educating them as much as we
should concerning the dark realities that surround
the tenuous little pool of our Western civilization.
A CALL FROM THE DARKNESS
Everything began changing in my family because
of a cry for help that came to my son’s eyes and
ears from a distant and dark continent.
18 www.110mag.com January/February 2008
LAURA PAGE HAS PARLAYED THE CONCERN
BY HER SON, TYLER, FOR AFRICAN CHILDREN
TAKEN INTO SLAVERY INTO A PROJECT WHOSE
EFFECTS ARE ALREADY BEING FELT.
My ten-year-old son, Tyler, has become an agent
for change in this world by imagining, planning,
and implementing a project whose effects have
reached around the world.
All children are like doors that haven’t been
opened yet. Who knows what creativity, genius,
and character will eventually be revealed if someone
encourages them to open the door of their life?
My son Tyler is a year older than his brother
Ryan and the two of them are great friends. Tyler
always seemed the more self-absorbed of my two
children. He would do such things as accidentally
slam into a toddler at the bottom of a slide and
then unthinkingly leave the infant behind crying
on the ground. He wasn’t being mean, but simply
lacked empathy.
Tyler was an ego-centric child who would grow
grumpy if he didn’t get what he wanted to eat or if
he couldn’t watch the movie he wanted to watch.
He was independent to an amazing degree for a
young child. Plus he had an Alpha personality and
would make up games, figure out the rules, and
then tell his friends how to play.
Tyler’s world changed last year when he was 10
years old and in the fourth grade. He came into my
room while I was watching a show on Oprah
called, “The Little Boy Oprah Couldn’t Forget.”
Oprah was telling the story of parents in Ghana
who would sell their children when they were as
young as four to traders for as little as $20.
Tyler kept asking me questions about those
child slaves. When I would explain something
he would say “Stop it!” because he didn’t want
to hear such a thing. But then he would ask
more questions.
Finally, Tyler said, “Can we do a fundraiser to
raise money and then send the money to Oprah
to help one of these children?”
“How would you do it?” I asked.
“I would tell my classmates about it and see if
they would like to help.”
He ended up writing a letter to his classmates.
They organized a carwash and when
people would call out to them to ask who they
were doing the carwash for they would shout
back, “For kids with nothing!”
Tyler’s goal was to get $240 to rescue one
child, but in two weeks they raised $1,100,
which was sufficient for 4.7 children, according
to Oprah’s figure.
The next day in church I told the story with
tears running down my face and explained how
we needed $70 to save that fifth child. Afterwards
one of the parishioners handed me an envelope