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Foreword

Dear Friends,

Today’s world faces many challenges and divides. Economic catastrophe, the threat of terrorism and longstanding military struggles—with an increasingly sensational media bringing it to us twenty-four hours a day in real-time—have made us fearful of an imagined “other.” While the information age has in many respects brought us closer together, it has in many ways cast us apart, forging cultural divisions rather than building communities.

We have globalized our technology and our economy. But we have yet to globalize our compassion.

That’s why Robin Wiszowaty is our hero. Her journey has allowed her to become a true bridge between worlds. By embarking on her overseas journey from suburban America to rural Kenya, reaching out into the unknown, she made an incredible leap of courage, one few of us would even consider.

Everyone knows that old adage, “You’ll never understand a man until you walk a mile in his shoes.” Robin’s own quest found her walking for miles barefoot alongside Maasai children as they headed off for school for the first time. She spent hours lugging water and firewood, brewing tea and gathering around a fire with families in their mud-hut homes, absorbing their customs and mastering their language.

In our frequent travels to rural Kenya, we’ve seen tourists and backpackers delight in the enthralling sights and sounds of this incredible land. But while they only briefly observe these scenes from afar, Robin wholly immersed herself in the true experience of life in Maasailand. And in return, the Maasai people accepted her as one of their own.

We’ve seen her sitting in hushed, intimate conversation with village elders, whose trust she earned through empathy and understanding. We’ve seen her astonish visiting students and volunteers with stories of her adventures. And we’ve seen her embraced by the teary-eyed mamas who are eternally grateful for her hard work in her role as Free The Children’s Kenya Program Director.

In reaching out, Robin also discovered something within herself: the power to rise above limits, to break free of the status quo and to bridge worlds in a way that makes a true difference in people’s lives.

Robin Wiszowaty is our hero. And by sharing her story, we know she’ll become yours too.

Craig and Marc Kielburger

Free The Children / Me to We