The Philanthropic Family

A few months ago, a set of twins I know turned 18.  Their philanthropic impulses had been stirred last year when they saw the documentary Invisible Children.  Invisible Children was produced by a trio of young film makers who went to Uganda and discovered the children who undertook a nightly commute away from their villages to avoid being recruited as child soldiers in the 20-year-old war.  

After seeing the movie, the twins wanted to go to Uganda to start building schools for these kids. In addition to the education of children in Africa, one of the twins was interested in the environment, as many teenagers are. 

I met with them to talk about their plans and ambitions during the winter.  We talked about how to start their development as informed, activist philanthropists who can really make a difference on the issues they care about.

So for their 18th birthday, I got them each a book with the intention to encourage their ambitions. (Both books are available on Amazon or at a book store near you.)

• For my environmentalist, “Worldchanging: A User’s Guide for the 21st Century” by Alex Steffen (Author), Al Gore (Foreword), Stephan Sagmeister (Designer).
• For my school-builder, “Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time” by Greg Mortenson (Author), David Oliver Relin (Author)

“Three Cups of Tea”

I read the first couple of chapters of “Three Cups” on the train in to meet the twins, and was compelled to buy a copy for myself, too.  I just finished it a week ago, and I’m pretty happy with the choice. 

“Three Cups of Tea” tells the story of Greg Mortenson, an American mountain climber who, after a failed attempt at K-2, was nursed back to health by a village at the edge of Pakistan civilization. He promises the village leaders he will build a school for the children who currently do their lessons out in the cold, using sticks to draw in the dirt.  From that one school is born the Central Asia Institute and 40 more schools across rural Pakistan and into Afghanistan. 

“Three Cups of Tea” sneaks up on you by disguising itself as an adventure book.  Mortenson’s efforts to negotiate foreign cultures and his mis-steps (getting himself kidnapped, getting his supplies hijacked by a local slimeball) are gripping.  Although setting Mortenson up as a little too perfect–his big flaw is wanting to cuddle up with his family when he’s at home with them–it demonstrates the value of providing girls’ education without feeling like a sermon.  (Okay, maybe it gets a little preachy in the last few chapters, but by then you’re hooked and don’t mind too much.)

“Worldchanging”

“Worldchanging” is both a book and an “online Magazine.”  The premise is to give us all many ways to actually bring about the world we want.  It focuses a lot on the stuff in our lives–raising our awareness of where it comes from and where it’s going after we’re done with it.  Our homes, our stuff, our communities, our businesses and our planet. 

“The Whole Earth Catalog retooled for the iPod generation … [Their book] is a compendium of everything a younger generation of environmental activists has to offer: creativity, digital dexterity, networking ability, an Internet-era optimism about the future, and a deep concern about not only green issues but related questions of human rights, poverty, and social justice.”
– Bill McKibben
New York Review of Books

 My only warning, if you get “Worldchanging” for your teenager, is that you might start to get some suggestions from your kid about changing your own world.