From Karen:
How do you involve your children in your work with the Foundation? Do you feel it’s important to involve them?
Hi Karen,
Thanks for the great question. This is a HUGE part of my life, and I feel it’s one of the most important things that I can share with my family. We’re very fortunate to be able to provide our children with the necessities (and more!) but we’ve been lucky and it’s not really a true view of the world.
At home we lead a very regular life like everyone else, but our children are certainly exposed to the luxuries of life when we travel on the road. We ride around on a beautiful tour bus and have a chef and driver, we stay in nice hotels, and we have people taking great care of us.
But this isn’t the real world and I don’t want my children to have a skewed version of reality, nor do I want them to have unrealistic expectations. What I do want is for them to be grounded, appreciative and thankful. I want them to know that because of our good fortune we CAN help to make the world a better place.
Our kids are only 4 and 6-years-old, but as soon as they’re old enough to travel to Africa, I plan on taking them (10-12 vaccinations and strong anti-malaria medications are required!).
In the meantime, we talk to them all the time about philanthropy, which is easy since it’s a huge part of our life. As far as direct involvement or exposure: we spent a month outside of Mexico City where we toured the countryside delivering boxes of food and supplies to families in need; we’ve delivered blankets to the homeless in Vancouver; we sponsor and write to 15 children in the Philippines; and we volunteer on a regular basis to a variety of local causes.
We vacation in real places where we can experience the culture and get involved in the community. We avoid the tourist places and luxury spots so that our kids can grasp the vastness, diversity and beauty of the REAL world.
My daughter is already coming up with ideas to raise money for Africa and my son is so compassionate on so many levels. I think as they get older we’ll be able to continue exposing them to more of our charity endeavors and help them explore their own ideas so they can hopefully help to make the world a better place.
Tags: Africa, Charity, Obakki Foundation, philanthropy, Treana Peake
