A Hungry Wolf and a Starving Wolf

A Hungry Wolf and a Starving Wolf Lessons Lear ned

Article by Jim Killon

It was a hard fact to face. It took me years to come to the realization that no matter how powerful the message, regardless of the passion and depth of sincerity of my project's focus, I was still going to lose some people that I was trying to help.

Doctors lose patients sometimes, no matter how skilled they might be. Seasoned prosecutors have to watch guilty criminals walk free on technicalities. Sometimes firefighters, with a million dollars in equipment, still have to watch a building destroyed. T he aftermath, the burden and sense of loss can be overwhelming.

I came to Peru with the desire to create a project that would revolutionize the solutions that were lacking in the lives of the destitute. I understood pretty quickly that I was going to be alone most of the time. I was realistic enough to understand that instant success was an illusion. It took time, patience, trial and error attempts to determine what was needed, how it was going to be effective and where the resources would come from. In time, thousands were reached ... with mixed results. My expected grand slam efforts were initially netting ground outs and some small base hits, to use a baseball analogy. >>> >>>

In the beginning, starting in 2009, it was a tough uphill climb, literally, to get to the children considering our project went to the remote areas that no other NGO was willing to venture. 60 degree slopes were routine. As we arrived the children would ask,"What did you bring us today? Candy, clothes, toys?" I brought a lesson about self esteem and how to do better in school. Within ten minutes my crowd of a dozen or more children dwindled to a mere few. Parents of the kids actually were encouraging their children to distract me away from my backpack so

that others could steal what was inside. When I finally confronted the parents their response was,"If our children don't steal, we have nothing to sell and we don't eat." T he idea of getting a job brought them to shutters. How can they work with five children to tend to? My "Do the Right T hing" initiative was borne out of my inspiration to guide the children, if not the adults, toward value based living. Some parents withdrew their children because of that initiative. Others saw value.

I had to accept that not 100% of the children, nor the parents that I invited to join our group each day, were going to embrace our life enhancement messages as desperately as they needed it. I would have been content with a solid 80%. More disappointments diminished that to roughly 20% within any one of my twenty groups that I created for schools where I partnered. In any organization, company or project around the world, it is

commonly accepted that 20% of the team will produce 80% of the results. I had to accept that this was no different, no matter how much I wanted it to be otherwise. I cannot control outcomes nor the people.

A hungry wolf will sit outside of your campsite and wait for you to throw them a bone, then walk over and join you and now you are friends.

A starving desperate wolf will attack you, rip off your arm and eat it while watching you bleed to death. T hose that were desperate starving wolves dismiss humanitarian support, building a good life was rejected for a quick fix, "He has it, we want it, he should just give it to us, else we will just take it!"

I re-focused my attention to only hungry wolves. My little pups may not be in groups of hundreds but those who embrace me have learned respect, dignity for their own lives and love for others. T hey are doing well in school and wear nice new >>>>

clean clothes and well fitting new shoes. We provide school supplies, vitamins and anti-parasite medicines which address anemia. Self esteem and creating a sense of community among them has been much easier and progress is embraced without resistance. We eliminate desperation mentality Success! Finally our perseverance has paid off.

I am still grieved by those that resist assistance unless it is on their own terms. However, like the skilled surgeon that loses a patient after doing all he could, I have to accept the reality that some people will continue to live in quiet desperation, just as some people in developed countries will never leave a job that they hate, a relationship that is toxic for them or abandon an attitude that alienates them from those who would otherwise love them.

Being a humanitarian is the most rewarding occupation that I can ever imagine. At the same time, it teaches me how to better serve those in despair, I also learned that self preservation is equally important. I can not let anything or anyone pull me down. We do what we can, for as many as we can, with what we have. I am proud of our accomplishments at Changes for New Hope. Over the last nine years we have reached over 3000 children, I have to be content with the fact that perhaps six hundred will remember what they have learned and apply it to become the very best versions of themselves. Like an hourglass, the effort expended on thousands, is deeply instilled in hundreds that will, in turn, influence thousands more throughout their lifetime. Disappointments shadow all of us but those who are determined to succeed in spite of them, reap unimaginable victories in life and find that this is still a beautiful world. www.changesfornewhope.com